If you’re a fan of John Grisham novels and the blockbuster movies they spawn then we’ve got good news for you — Matthew McConaughey is attached to lead a series adaptation of A Time for Mercy for HBO.
The gripping crime novel was published in 2020 as a follow up to A Time to Kill and Sycamore Row which feature attorney Jake Brigance as the protagonist.
McConaughey is no stranger to the character, having starred as Brigance in the film version of A Time to Kill in 1996 opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock and Kiefer and Donald Sutherland. The role was largely considered to be the actor’s breakout role and the film — directed by the late Joel Schumacher — was praised as being one of the best Grisham movies.
The plot of A Time to Kill centres on Brigance defending a Black man (Jackson) who killed the two white men who savagely raped his daughter.
In A Time for Mercy, Brigance finds himself defending 16-year-old Drew Gamble, who is accused of killing his mother’s boyfriend — a deputy sheriff —with the boy claiming it was self defense as the man was abusive to his mother, himself and his siblings. Despite the fact that Gamble is just a teenager, the town pushes for the death penalty, resulting in Brigance putting his career and his family’s safety on the line in his pursuit of justice.
The decision to produce A Time for Mercy as a limited series, instead of a film, will hopefully satisfy Grisham purists as it will allow the story to unfold in more depth and give the characters space to develop, without the constraints of a 120 minute run time.
McConaughey, who released his lauded memoir Greenlights in 2020, has previously found success on HBO as the star of True Detective back in 2014. The actor played Rust Cohle in season one of the hugely popular anthology series, scoring an Emmy nomination for his work.
To read about more book to TV series adaptations, check out: Books That Have Been Turned Into TV Series — Plus a Few to Look Forward to
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