Author Lee Child's famously brusque and often brutal character Jack Reacher has become identified with Tom Cruise on the big screen, despite some reader complaints that the star isn't tall enough to play the hulking hero. Now, Child says that a deal for a TV series has been hatched, and it looks like there will be a new Reacher in the world.
While Child has no hard feelings about Cruise, he's not unaware of the height issues. "I really enjoyed working with Cruise. He's a really, really nice guy. We had a lot of fun," Child told BBC Radio Manchester. "But ultimately the readers are right. The size of Reacher is really, really important and it's a big component of who he is. The idea is that when Reacher walks into a room, you're all a little nervous just for that first minute. And Cruise, for all his talent, didn't have that physicality. So what I've decided to do is – there won't be any more movies with Tom Cruise. Instead we're going to take it to Netflix or something like that. Long form streaming television, with a completely new actor."
The writer, who cameos in both 2012's Jack Reacher and 2016's Jack Reacher: Never Go Back previously made similar comments to The Guardian but now it looks like a deal for the show is closer than ever. And according to Child, he wants Reacher fans help to pick the right person to portray the character, who clocks in around 6ft 5in in the books. "I want all those readers who were upset about Tom Cruise to help me out – participate in choosing the right actor for the TV series. We're rebooting and starting over and we're going to try and find the perfect guy."
We'll see which cable channel or streaming service snaps up the chance to bring a new Reacher to screens. Perhaps Amazon will stump up the cash and create a Jack Ryan/Jack Reacher double bill?
For Child's two appearences on the Empire Podcast head here and here, with the latter seeing our team get the writer to unveil the name of a new Reacher tome.
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