Clyde Pell Tom Berenger as Pete Randle Daryl Hannah as Lois Harlan Robert Duvall as Dixon Doss Famke Janssen as Leeanne Magruder Jesse James as Jeff Magruder Mae Whitman as Libby Magruder Wilbur Fitzgerald as Judge Russo Production The film was based on an original story by John Grisham that was subsequently adapted into screenplay form. Kenneth Branagh liked the story and agreed to do the film but only if a highly regarded director signed on as well. In July 1996, it was announced that Luis Mandoki was to direct the film, with Annette Bening in the female lead, and it was to have been filmed in Memphis, Tennessee. However, when Bening fell pregnant, she had to drop out, with Mandoki departing shortly afterwards. Branagh went to work on The Proposition while the producers looked for another director. John Dahl was offered the film before the producers settled on Robert Altman. Altman wanted to work with Branagh but only, as he told him, "If we can fool the audience by not making you the hero, by making you flawed." Once Altman came on board, he heavily re-worked the script, giving credit to the pseudonymous Al Hayes. Altman said in an interview, "I just wanted to change the elements of these kinds of stories as much as I could and then I wanted to stay out of the courtroom." Altman changed the setting to Savannah, Georgia, and added the threat of a hurricane throughout the movie. For the look of the film, Altman was inspired by The Night of the Hunter. Principal photography would occur during early 1997. In addition to Two Girls and a Guy, which was also shot in the early months of 1997, the film was Robert Downey Jr.'s first acting role after a 1996 drug arrest. It has been said that Downey Jr. "didn't even read the script" when he accepted the role. Release The Gingerbread Man was intended to open in the fall of 1997 but was delayed after an audience test screening reportedly went poorly. Polygram Films brought in an outsider to re-edit the movie without informing Altman, and claimed that his version "lacked tension and suffered from an inappropriate music score". At one point, the publicized squabble between the studio and the filmmaker got so bad that he wanted his name taken off the film. According to Branagh, the film previewed well but not