A look inside Hollywood and the movies : TAG TEAM : Producers Get a ‘Firm’ Offer

Early in the book-to-screen history of “The Firm,” Paramount Pictures had to make a ruling in the case of producers John Davis vs. Scott Rudin.

Davis (“Predator”) sent a copy of the manuscript for John Grisham’s best-selling novel--obtained on the sly from his book scout--to studio executive Lance Young even before a publisher had been lined up. A couple of days later, on-the-lot producer Rudin (“The Addams Family”) submitted the same material to the studio--sent to him by the Writers and Artists Agency, which represents the author in Los Angeles.

“Paramount found itself in a crisis of sorts,” recalls Jay Garon, the New York-based agent for Grisham, a writer who--prior to the emergence of four bestsellers (“The Pelican Brief,” “The Client,” “A Time to Kill” and “The Firm”)--was then a virtual unknown. “They had paid $600,000 for the rights to the book and it required a Solomonic decision to settle the dispute.”

Unbeknown to Rudin or Davis, Young called each producer, explaining his predicament and asking them to team up. Though it was a scenario neither had visualized, by Hollywood standards it worked out well. The finished film lists both as producers, along with director Sydney Pollack.

The two, who’d first met as 20th Century Fox executives 10 years ago, agreed that Tom Cruise would be perfect as the young lawyer who finds himself entangled in the unscrupulous machinations of a Memphis law firm. Ignoring the studio’s prohibition against approaching the actor directly, they headed over to the set of “A Few Good Men” where they broached the possibility of Cruise directing, as well.

“Cruise wasn’t interested in directing ‘The Firm,’ ” recalls Rudin. “He may not have wanted to start out with a movie that big--or one he’d also be starring in. That’s not unusual. When I asked Jodie Foster if she wanted to direct ‘Little Man Tate,’ she asked whether she’d have to be in it too.”

Cruise did, however, agree to star in the film with Pollack lined up to direct. Though Grisham’s camp has been happy with Pollack at the helm, there were some bumps prior to his arrival. An early version of the script by playwright David Rabe deviated more from the book than they would have liked. And relations between Grisham and Rudin fell far short of “cordial.”

“Phone calls from Grisham were never returned,” Garon recalls, “so he sent me cross-country to meet with Rudin. Because of a traffic jam, I arrived five minutes late--only to be told Rudin decided not to wait. I was in town for a couple of weeks and offered to meet at his convenience. All I can say is that Rudin was rude. We never heard a word.”

Rudin challenges some specifics of Garon’s version but chooses not to elaborate. “I have enormous respect for John Grisham,” he maintains. “I loved ‘The Firm’ when I read it--and I love the movie Sydney Pollack made from it.”

Davis, for his part, landed in Grisham’s good graces--and was Paramount’s chosen producer when “The Client” was on the auction block last fall. Though Grisham, whose contract provides for studio--and producer--approval, found the package an appealing one, he went with Warner Bros. when Paramount declined to match producer Arnon Milchan’s winning bid of more than $2.25 million.

Davis calls Grisham “the most important source of new literary material for the screen.” Others evidently agree. Garon claims he has fielded offers in the past few months from a host of parties interested in filming “A Time to Kill”--Grisham’s initially unnoticed first novel successfully re-released after the author took off. It’s a decision, he says, he’d like to postpone.

“With Alan Pakula’s ‘The Pelican Brief’ (starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington) now shooting in New Orleans and Joel Schumacher’s ‘The Client’ (starring Susan Sarandon) about to go before the cameras in a few weeks, we’ll have three major movies with major directors coming out in a year,” the agent explains. “Our concern now is having ‘The Firm’ beat out ‘Jurassic Park’ as the movie of the summer.”