Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown was adapted from Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch.
Published in 1992, Rum Punch follows a flight attendant who becomes involved in gun-running and a dangerous smuggling scheme. Tarantino changed the protagonist’s name from Burke to Jackie Brown and wrote the film specifically with Pam Grier in mind.
Jackie Brown was released in 1997 and stars Grier in the title role, with Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton and Robert De Niro in supporting parts. Unlike Tarantino’s first two films, it is a direct adaptation rather than an original screenplay, although it retains his interest in shifting alliances and extended conversations.
Elmore Leonard also wrote the novels Get Shorty and Out of Sight, both adapted into films. Those titles can cause confusion because Tarantino’s movie is sometimes grouped with Leonard adaptations generally, but Rum Punch is the specific source novel.