A time to kill 1996 a time to kill in canton mississippi a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten year old daughter inciting violent retribution and revenge from the ku klux klan. A time to kill is a 1996 american courtroom crime drama film based on john grishams 1989 novel of the same name sandra bullock samuel l jackson matthew mcconaughey and kevin spacey star with oliver platt ashley judd and kiefer sutherland and patrick mcgoohan appearing in supporting roles the film was a critical and commercial success making 152 million at the worldwide box office. A time to kill is a 1989 legal thriller by john grisham it was grishams first novel the novel was rejected by many publishers before wynwood press eventually gave it a modest 5000 copy printing when doubleday published the firm wynwood released a trade paperback of a time to kill which became a bestseller dell published the mass market paperback months after the success of the firm bringing grisham to widespread popularity among readers doubleday eventually took over the contract for a. A time to kill john grisham a time to kill is a 1988 legal thriller by john grisham it was grishams first novel it was grishams first novel in the small town of clanton in fictional ford county mississippi a ten year old african american girl named tonya hailey is viciously raped and beaten by two white supremacists james pete willard and billy ray cobb