Grisham sold film rights to the then still-unpublished The Client in October 1992 for $2.5 million to Arnon Milchan of New Regency Productions, which made the film in association with Warner Bros. With a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman and Robert Getchell and direction by Joel Schumacher, the movie version opened in summer 1994 to box office success. Filmed on location in Memphis, the movie closely follows the action of the novel (contrasted to the film of The Firm [1993], which veers away from Grisham's resolution). The chief change is that the script expands Foltrigg's role to place him at most of the confrontations between Mark and the authorities. As played by Tommy Lee Jones, Foltrigg on film is less villainous than on the page; Jones plays him as a driven and ambitious prosecutor frustrated by delays he cannot control. Susan Sarandon, although younger and better-looking than the part demands, plays Reggie. Jones...