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Amazon's JACK REACHER show (2022)
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237 posts in this topic

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Titans star Alan Ritchson in set to star in Amazon’s Jack Reacher series based on the badass character from Lee Child’s bestselling series of books, Collider has learned.

 

Produced by Amazon Studios, Skydance Television and Paramount Television Studios, the series will be written by Nick Santora (Prison Break), who will also executive produce and serve as showrunner under his overall deal with Skydance. Other EPs include Child and Christopher McQuarrie, as well as Don Granger, Scott Sullivan and Marcy Ross, while David Ellison and Dana Goldberg will executive produce for Skydance, whose Carolyn Harris will oversee the series.

 

Amazon has been developing Jack Reacher for the past year, and the first season will be based on the first Reacher novel, The Killing Floor. With more than 100 million books sold, Reacher represents a billion-dollar franchise, and it makes perfect sense for the character to jump from the big screen, where he was played by Tom Cruise, to the small screen. Tom Clancy‘s best known character, Jack Ryan, made the same leap, and that John Krasinski-led series has been a hit for Amazon, Skydance and Paramount, and is now entering its third season.

 

Ritchson is a strong fit for the character, as Jack Reacher is described as 6’5″ in the books, and Ritchson is 6’4″ and 235 pounds. While I thought Cruise was really good in that first Jack Reacher movie, many fans of the books had a hard time embracing him as the character simply because Cruise is smaller in stature, though Ritchson is unlikely to receive the same criticism.

 

“Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series is a global phenomenon with one of entertainment’s most well-known heroes, and a perfect fit for Amazon Studios’ slate of bold, character-driven series,” Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke said back in January. The series will certainly be a priority for Amazon once the industry is back up to full speed.

 

Edited by Bosco685
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I've never read the books but I enjoyed the movies. I thought Cruise was decent but don't know the character.  The scene in the movie where he kicks that groups collective would have less impact if the guy was the side of an NFL  linebacker.

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Someone is "fudging" here as this is his height as listed at IMDB, 

Height 6' 3" (1.91 m)

 

Having read every Reacher novel and short stories by Lee Child,

it is far more important that Reacher have an imposing physical  

presence than to be a good/great actor.

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My dad was happy when I told him this news. He’s a fan of the novels and not a fan of “tiny” Tom Cruise. I never read the Reacher books so I really enjoyed the first movie. Plus I’ve never seen anyone do the “sniper roll” into a shooting position in any movie before. I’ve seen very few real snipers do it during training over the years. 

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5 minutes ago, Gatsby77 said:

Yeah - I liked the Jack Reacher films (particularly the first one), but the original trailer was an overt slap in the face of fans by:

1) Casting someone of Cruise's height

2) Putting him behind the wheel of a car

 

You sir, have read the books.

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23 minutes ago, media_junkie said:

Yeah, I've never read any of the books either.  I thought the first movie was great, the second one was eh.

Agreed. That first movie was action gold. No matter what the books reflect.

It's like if folks really reflected on Tony Stark in the comic books is 6'1" tall, yet Robert Downey JR is 5'9" tall. Where the pitchforks then over this height concern?

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1 hour ago, Bosco685 said:

Agreed. That first movie was action gold. No matter what the books reflect.

It's like if folks really reflected on Tony Stark in the comic books is 6'1" tall, yet Robert Downey JR is 5'9" tall. Where the pitchforks then over this height concern?

Having read ALL the books, and watching interviews of Lee Child,

the whole point is that Reacher IS an imposing physical person,

to the point that his presence alone is enough to intimate a person

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4 minutes ago, The Brain said:

Having read ALL the books, and watching interviews of Lee Child,

the whole point is that Reacher IS an imposing physical person,

to the point that his presence alone is enough to intimate a person

Sounds like Mack Bolan, or Frank Castle.

The scene in the parking lot when he gets arrested makes no sense if someone is 6'5. 

 

With that said, I look forward to seeing an accurate version of Jack Reacher.

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3 hours ago, shadroch said:

Sounds like Mack Bolan, or Frank Castle.

The scene in the parking lot when he gets arrested makes no sense if someone is 6'5. 

 

With that said, I look forward to seeing an accurate version of Jack Reacher.

Again if you have read the books Reacher is  much more about

solving problems with his mind and his fist first, guns

are a second option. 

Edited by The Brain
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15 hours ago, The Brain said:

Having read ALL the books, and watching interviews of Lee Child,

the whole point is that Reacher IS an imposing physical person,

to the point that his presence alone is enough to intimate a person

I get it. It is just odd when people selectively focus on height when with other productions they go blind to such concerns.

Lee Child complaint at first. Then supported the Cruise casting after seeing the first film. Then changed his mind afterwards in noting Cruise is tool old and short. At least be consistent.

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3 hours ago, Bosco685 said:

I get it. It is just odd when people selectively focus on height when with other productions they go blind to such concerns.

Lee Child complaint at first. Then supported the Cruise casting after seeing the first film. Then changed his mind afterwards in noting Cruise is tool old and short. At least be consistent.

I'm guessing he liked the money he got and the extra publicity Cruise gave to his work. Then, when they decided not to make any more Cruise/Reacher movies, his opinion changed.

I like the first Cruise/Reacher film but it's more than just about his height for fans of the books.

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9 minutes ago, Comicopolis said:

I'm guessing he liked the money he got and the extra publicity Cruise gave to his work. Then, when they decided not to make any more Cruise/Reacher movies, his opinion changed.

I like the first Cruise/Reacher film but it's more than just about his height for fans of the books.

I get it once you have immersed yourself in a work of fiction the lead characteristics become locked in. And it's clear Lee Child changed his mind over time after reflecting on fan complaints.

Lee Child Says Tom Cruise Is Too Tiny to Keep Playing Jack Reacher

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“Cruise, for all his talent, didn’t have that physicality,” Reacher author Lee Child told the BBC. “I really enjoyed working with Cruise. He’s a really, really nice guy. We had a lot of fun. 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.” Representatives for Cruise have not yet responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment.

 

As some Twitter users have pointed out, Reacher’s stature is Bigfoot-esque and almost comical in the book series. When describing the size of Reacher’s hands alone, Child compares them to Thanksgiving turkeys, dinner plates, and “supermarket chicken.” Imagine how cumbersome those must be at a holiday dinner.

 

 

 

Per Child, the series will ideally head to a streamer like Netflix. He also extended a (regular-size?) hand to fans, asking them to “participate in choosing the right actor for the TV series.” Who knows what that entails, exactly, but Child should maybe prepare for his Twitter mentions to be filled with glossy headshots.

 

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I get people saying Cruise wasn't physically built/imposing like Jack Reacher is described in books, but would the 1st Jack Reacher movie have done $218 million on a $60 million budget if instead of Cruise as the lead you had someone that was physically more in line with Reacher, but was an unknown?  Would a second movie have been made and now a streaming series?  Granted these questions cannot be answered, but I personally don't think the movies would have done as well (or even been made) had it not been for Cruise.  

For the most part he is one of the last "Bankable" actors out there when it comes to putting butts in seats at the theaters.

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