Amazon Developing A ‘Jack Reacher’ Series
Way back in November last year, ‘Jack Reacher’ author Lee Childs revealed that Skydance Television and Paramount Television signed a deal to make his books into a tv series. Now Amazon Studios has joined the party as co-producer and broadcaster it has been announced.
The streaming service landed the rights after a competitive bidding process which sees ‘Scorpion’ creator Nick Santora write, exec produce and serve as showrunner on the new drama. The ‘Jack Reacher’ novels follow the story of the titular army veteran as he travels the US using his skills to investigate suspicious and frequently dangerous situations.
As many of you will know, Childs’ novel series has already been adapted for the big screen with Tom Cruise in the lead role. However, Childs commented back in November that, much as he really enjoyed working with Cruise, he always wanted someone with a more imposing physical presence for the role. “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,” he said. So, for people who were upset about Cruise in the films, expect someone who will (hopefully) be more to your liking for the tv drama.
There are currently 23 books in the Jack Reacher novel series which have been published in 49 languages and 101 territories, with more than 100 million books sold and worth billions in global sales. The first film was directed and adapted by Christopher McQuarrie in 2012, and had a mostly positive critical response, taking £167m at the box office. The 2016 follow-up movie, ‘Jack Reacher: Never Go Back’, had a less positive reaction, which may have led to this shift in direction to a tv series.
Technically, the ‘Jack Reacher’ series is still only in development, but with Amazon now on board, it seems extremely likely we will see a series in the not too distant future. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
