The Many Reasons the Jack Reacher Franchise Failed To Return

The Big Picture

• Jack Reacher was a solid film, but the sequel fell short, leading to doubts about a third installment in the franchise.
• The films offer a different, darker side to Tom Cruise's action hero persona, with more grounded action and violent combat scenes.
• Despite lukewarm reception, a larger framed actor was cast in the Amazon Prime series, Reacher , which found success with fans and critics.

In the last couple decades, Tom Cruise has cemented himself as one of the most prolific and prestigious action movie leads, with major success in the Mission: Impossible franchise, a Top Gun sequel turned global sensation, and a few beloved one offs like Minority Report and Edge of Tomorrow. But he does have one franchise which seems to have been left behind; Jack Reacher.

The movie was followed by a sequel, this time reuniting Cruise with The Last Samurai director Edward Zwick. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back was a step-down critically and commercially, a disappointing result after a four-year wait. The sequel was released in 2017, and talk of a third movie gradually fell by the wayside as years went by.

Jack Reacher

A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper responsible for a mass shooting.

'Jack Reacher' Solidified the Partnership Between Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise

McQuarrie and Cruise have been creatively inseperable since they first worked together on Valkyrie. McQuarrie was pivotal in retooling Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol into the major success that it was, and has gone on to bring that franchise to unbelievable heights (literally) while also writing and producing nearly everything Cruise has done since 2008.

But the first movie McQuarrie actually directed for Cruise was Jack Reacher, which was released to positive critical reception and a solid box office intake. This first installment follows Reacher being pulled into the criminal investigation and defense of a military sniper who may have perpetrated a mass shooting, eventually finding a much larger conspiracy at play. McQuarrie did not stay on as director for the sequel, but he still maintained a production credit on the film.

'Jack Reacher' Distinguished Itself From Tom Cruise's Other Action Roles

The Jack Reacher films are not often a central point of reference for what Cruise can do as an action hero, but they do offer a different version of Cruise. It would be easy for this team to essentially re-skin Mission: Impossible's Ethan Hunt character into a different world and put little effort into distinguishing the character of Reacher.​ This is not the route they take, as these films are tonally and stylistically different, and Cruise does put in the work to make sure that Reacher doesn't feel like a carbon copy of Ethan Hunt, Maverick, or any of his other iconic roles.

The Jack Reacher series offered Cruise a chance to play a little darker, as these films do not maintain the playful tone of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Reacher is a more world-weary, dejected character. The films feel more violent, with the combat being depicted in a fashion which is more brutal than Cruise's typical register.

I Don't Think You Understand How Big Jack Reacher Actually Is

Lee Child's books are a reminder that the bad guys are dealing with an absolute unit.

The tonal difference, and the reliance on more low-stakes, grounded action compared to the massive setpieces Cruise usually dazzles with, stand to make Jack Reacher worth watching, and the story, at least for the first film, is quite gripping. The villain, portrayed in a brilliantly wicked performance by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog. You also get a great performance from Rosamund Pike as a defense attorney who is unwittingly roped into the plot. With a crew of talented actors working under the guidance of McQuarrie, a gifted action filmmaker, it is hard to go wrong with the first Jack Reacher film.​​​​​​

What Happened After 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back?'

Despite the first movie going over relatively well, it was not received as warmly by longtime fans of the book series. Some fans took issue with Cruise feeling miscast for the 6'5" tank of a man that Reacher was consistently written as. Child spoke of this around the release of the first film, explaining that "Reacher's size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way."This speaks to the strength of Cruise's action movie prowess, his ability to sell you on the notion that he really can do anything, but for some fans it still wasn't enough.

Child did eventually relent, agreeing that Reacher should be played by a larger framed actor, and their wishes were fulfilled when Alan Ritchson stepped into the role for the Amazon Prime series, Reacher. The series adaptation has been a hit with fans and critics, and a third season is currently in production. The success of the Ritchson-led series, which McQuarrie is an executive producer on, seems to have filled in the gaps that fans and critics noted in the film adaptation.

When the second film was relatively much less successful, these issues were harder to look past for many Reacher fans. The television series fulfilled what the fanbase wanted out of that story adapted to the screen, and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back remains one of the few unfortunate misfires in Cruise's impressive action resume.

Will There Be a Third 'Jack Reacher' Film?

While McQuarrie spoke of the possibility of a third film in the last few years, it seems to have landed fairly low on their list of priorities. This is not surprising considering McQuarrie and Cruise are in the midst of what may be the final stretch of the Mission: Impossible franchise while also juggling how they might move forward with Maverick after the massive global sensation that was the Top Gun sequel.

Cruise is also rumored to be interested in more auteur driven projects, throwing back to his earlier roles in films like Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut. That speculation is corroborated by the recent news that he will star in the upcoming Alejandro G. Iñárritu film, his first non-franchise role in years. He has also been circling a mysterious project with Doug Liman, and in addition to that, Edge of Tomorrow sequel talks are occurring. Taking all of this into consideration, Cruise may have a busy schedule these next few years, and with the lukewarm response to his outing as Reacher, it feels less likely that he'd return to this character for a third film. So the Cruise-era Reacher fans may have to settle for nothing more than a double feature, but at least there will be no shortage of Tom Cruise or Jack Reacher gracing our screens in the next few years, just not as one entity.

Jack Reacher is available to stream on Paramount Plus in the U.S.

Stream on Paramount+

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