Which Tarantino film is adapted from Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch?
Answer
Jackie Brown
Answer
Jackie Brown
Which Tarantino film is adapted from Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch? Jackie Brown is the adaptation.
Released in 1997, Jackie Brown was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from Elmore Leonard’s 1992 crime novel Rum Punch. It is Tarantino’s only feature-length film based directly on another writer’s work.
Pam Grier plays Jackie, a flight attendant caught smuggling money for gunrunner Ordell Robbie, played by Samuel L. Jackson. After federal agents arrest her, Jackie creates a dangerous double-cross involving Ordell, the authorities, and bail bondsman Max Cherry, played by Robert Forster.
Tarantino changed the protagonist from the novel’s white character Jackie Burke to the Black Jackie Brown, tailoring the role for Grier and drawing on her association with 1970s blaxploitation cinema. The film’s title also echoes Grier’s earlier movie Foxy Brown. Leonard approved of the screenplay and praised it highly among adaptations of his work.
Rum Punch is sometimes confused with Leonard’s other screen adaptations, such as Out of Sight and Get Shorty. Jackie Brown is distinctively rooted in the novel’s Florida crime plot while adding Tarantino’s pacing, soundtrack choices, and ensemble style.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026