Shared universes are apparently no longer restricted to Marvel and DC blockbusters, at least that’s the notion streaming service Hulu was embracing last December, when it started plans for television series adaptations of multiple John Grisham novels. That’s right, folks, Hulu was conceiving a live-action franchise that was to be called The John Grisham Universe! However, in the latest news, those plans have been taken off the table.
Hulu has ended development on its once-ambitious plans for serial television adaptations of John Grisham novels, according to Variety. While no reason was provided for the move, a major development worth noting is Disney’s takeover of Hulu back in May. The plans were initially slated to started with 1995’s The Rainmaker and 2015’s Rogue Lawyer, which were designed to be connected continuity-wise, and adhere to a non-linear format that accommodates watching the episodes out of order, or, as the service’s statement puts it, either “vertically” or “horizontally.” The two series were, at one point, planned in a writer’s room simultaneously, with an initial benchmark of producing eight scripts for each.
The now-nixed developmental plans were set over at ABC Signature and Seitzman and Christina Davis’s ABC Studios-based Maniac Productions. For this initial duo of Grishamverse legal dramas, Hulu had tapped the creative coalition of writers Michael Seitzman (Quantico, Code Black), Jason Richman (Mercy Street, Detroit 1-8-7) and author Grisham himself, who, having given his blessing, was to have his say in the adaptation process as executive producer, joined in that capacity by the Seitzman/Richman duo and Davis.
Of course, several of Grisham’s novels have been adapted for the big screen (some more successful than others), most notably, the 1993 Tom Cruise-starring legal drama, The Firm, along with The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Chamber, A Painted House and Skipping Christmas (not counting Netflix’s recent Grisham docuseries, The Innocent Man). However, film buffs will remember The Rainmaker from director Francis Ford Coppola’s 1997 movie adaptation (pictured in the title image), in which Matt Damon starred as a recent law school grad who – joined by a shady partner played by Danny DeVito – attempts to do benevolent legal work by helping a leukemia patient whose insurance company unscrupulously denied treatment.
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The Rogue Lawyer, which was to get its first live-action adaptation, centers on the exploits of a street-based solicitor who practices in the seedy side of the city out of the back of a black bulletproof van, joined only by a heavily-armed driver. However, Hulu’s aforementioned non-linear TV plans would have seen the stories of the two Grisham adaptations directly intertwined, sharing a murder mystery that will be connected to a larger conspiracy (its own proverbial Infinity Gauntlet-wielding Thanos, if you will), making the manner in which these shows were to be binged subjective to one’s own tastes. Yet, the structure of Hulu’s John Grisham Universe was set to be designed organically and expand at a careful rate.
It will be interesting to see if the seemingly incompatible concepts of “John Grisham” and “Universe” will end up being salvaged by another streaming platform or network.
*This article was originally published on December 4, 2018 and has been updated with new information.
Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.