TheJack Reacherfranchise is alive and well… on the small screen. Amazon Studios announced today that it has greenlit ajack ReacherTV series, withNick Santora(Scorpion,Prison Break) serving as executive producer and showrunner. The first season of the show will be based on the firstJack Reachernovel,The Killing Floor, which finds Reacher going toe-to-toe with the Aryan Brotherhood.
Lee Child, the author behind the book series, is onboard as an executive producer. “It’s been great so far, but really, the fun starts here. By now I know these guys, and Reacher is in the perfect hands, believe me,” said Child.
Amazon Studios is producing the series alongside Skydance Television and Paramount Television Studios, the TV arms of the studios that brought theJack Reacherfranchise to the big screen withTom Cruisein the title role. The underrated 2012 filmJack Reachermarked writer/directorChristopher McQuarrie’s first directorial project sinceThe Way of the Gun, and paved the way for a working relationship that brought McQuarrie onboard to helm the last twoMission: Impossiblemovies—and he’s onboard to direct the next two as well.
Edward Zwickdirected the subpar sequelJack Reacher: Never Go Back, and it was after that film’s disappointing reviews and box office that Paramount reconsidered the franchise. For Child’s part, he was alwaysoddly critical of Cruise’s casting, saying he was physically wrong for the role. I dunno man, I saw bothJack Reachermovies and had no trouble believing Cruise could kick my ass.
McQuarrie has an executive producer credit on theJack ReacherTV series but it’s unclear how significantly he’s involved—my guess is very little, since he has his hands full. But the show is in line with Amazon’s programming strategy going forward, bolstered by the success of theJohn Krasinski-frontedTom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, which is in development on its third season.
So now the casting process begins. Who should take over the role of Jack Reacher on the small screen?
