USA Network has wasted little time in reaching a verdict on the future of The Rainmaker, their TV reworking of John Grisham’s 1995 crime novel. In a statement (via Deadline), it has been confirmed that the series will be returning for another season after its impressive freshman run that saw the Lionsgate Television and Blumhouse Television collaboration average 1.3 million total viewers.
According to the report, the cross-platform viewership of the show has so far been much higher than anyone expected, landing USA Network its highest first season viewer total in seven years. It is therefore not surprising that the decision has been made to allow the series to continue on for at least another season.
“The verdict is in — The Rainmaker is returning for season two on USA Network,” said Val Boreland, President, Entertainment, Versant. “Along with our brilliant showrunner Michael Seitzman and our partners at Lionsgate and Blumhouse, we’re thrilled to build on the momentum and deliver another compelling chapter of this gripping legal drama for our viewers.”
Season one stars Milo Callaghan, John Slattery, Lana Parrilla, Madison Iseman, P.J. Byrne, Dan Fogler, Wade Briggs and Robyn Cara. The series follows Rudy Baylor, a lawyer straight out of law school, who goes up against the formidable Leo Drummond and his law school girlfriend. The story sees Rudy uncovering a series of conspiracies that link to the death of her clients’ son, which unfolds in usual Grisham fashion.
The Rainmaker divided critics, but scored an impressive 82% with audiences. That, combined with the high viewership of the series, made its renewal seem like a no-brainer. There have been no further details of the plot that Season 2 will follow.
‘The Rainmaker’ Could Not Improve Matt Damon’s 1997 Movie for Many Critics
It is not surprising to see yet another remake hit screens, with a novel that has previously been made into a successful movie being transformed into a TV show. The television medium has often been seen as a more fulfilling way to tell a faithful adaptation of a novel that will usually come with much more content than be crammed into a two-hour movie.
In this case, the TV show route didn’t pay off with critics, who delivered a split-down-the-middle 50% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. The reason for the division is clear in several “rotten” reviews, which note that despite a “promising” pilot episode, the series “quickly descends into a generic and clichéd courtroom format” that “strips away Grisham’s flavor” and ends up “not having enough story to satisfy.” In comparison, the Francis Ford Coppola-directed 1997 movie version scored 82%, and became regarded as one of the best adaptations of Grisham’s work.
However, audiences have shown enough love by way of viewer numbers to give USA Network the faith that a second season can continue to build on the promises of Season 1 and deliver another successful season sometime later in 2026.
- Release Date
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August 15, 2025
- Network
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USA Network
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Milo Callaghan
Rudy Baylor
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Lana Parrilla
Jocelyn ‘Bruiser’ Stone
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Madison Iseman
Sarah Plankmore
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