Why Gene Hackman Removed His Name From Marketing Material For Tom Cruise’s The Firm

Sydney Pollack’s 1993 thriller “The Firm” was the first film in a long series of megahits based on the literary output of John Grisham. Grisham, for those unfamiliar, was a lawyer-turned-writer who authored many best-selling legal thrillers throughout the 1990s, including “The Pelican Brief,” “The Client,” “The Chamber,” “A Time to Kill,” and “Fugitive Juror.” There was a time when no one in an airport was left without a Grisham novel in hand. Most of Grisham’s books were about a young, upstart lawyer. in the profession, which uncovers a vast legal conspiracy. To date, Grisham has written around 50 novels and four non-fiction books, and many of his biggest hits have been adapted into equally successful films.

Pollock’s “The Firm” was made for $42 million and starred Tom Cruise as Mitch McDeere, a recent law school graduate, who uncovers a money laundering and tax fraud scheme (and possible violence ) connected to the firm where you accept a job. It featured an impressive cast, including Holly Hunter, Ed Harris, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Hal Holbrook, Wilford Brimley, Gary Busey and David Strathairn. Gene Hackman appeared as a character named Avery Tolar, who served as Mitch’s mentor at the titular firm. “The Firm” grossed more than $270 million. Adjusted for inflation, that would be equivalent to about $590 million today. It was the fifth highest-grossing film of that year, behind “Jurassic Park,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “The Fugitive” and “Schindler’s List.”

Hackman plays a major role in “The Firm,” but his name does not appear on the poster. From an advertising perspective, this was an odd choice. Why not sell the fact that an actor of Hackman’s stature is in your film? It appears that Hackman’s name was left out of the publicity materials for “The Firm” due to last-minute casting and a somewhat complicated contractual tangle. The story was covered by a 1993 article in the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Times noted that Hackman was not the original choice to play Avery in “The Firm.” In reality, the filmmakers hoped to change the gender of the book character and cast Meryl Streep in the role. Streep was still part of the project when production officially began, but John Grisham intervened with his objections. He did not want Streep in the role, feeling that Avery should remain a male character. Hackman was hired as a replacement, late in the production process.

However, Hackman’s late addition caused a bit of a publicity problem. Cruise, the undisputed star of “The Firm,” had already negotiated with Paramount to have his name appear first on posters, billboards and other publicity materials. A look at the poster In fact, he reveals that his name appears prominently at the top. Hackman, however, also wanted top billing for the title, as he felt he was more or less Cruise’s co-star. A publicist at the time said that “this is a city of precedent and (Mr. Hackman is) so firmly established above the title, why should he be below the title?”

But it appears Paramount denied Hackman his request due to bad timing. Hackman’s rep noted that he “came late to the project, after they had started filming, and was offered the role after they had built a marketing plan around Tom. He had the option to say ‘no’ or work out something else.” billing situation.”

Rather than force the issue, Hackman simply requested that his name be completely removed from any publicity materials. In the film itself, Hackman appears second in both the opening and closing credits. But his name does not appear anywhere in the advertising of “The Firm.” The LA Times article was written to assure the public that yes, Gene Hackman is in “The Firm.”

Hackman appeared in the John Grisham adaptations “The Chamber” in 1996 and “Runaway Jury” in 2003. He appeared on the posters for both.