‘Jack Reacher’ TV Series in the Works At Amazon

Amazon snapped the rights to develop “Jack Reacher” as a television series with Nick Santora (“Scorpio”) as showrunner, head writer and executive producer. The story was adapted on the big screen with Tom Cruise as the titular character but the actor will not become part of the TV show.

“Jack Reacher” will be produced by Amazon Studios, Skydance Television and Paramount Television, the very same team that has brought “Jack Ryan” to the streaming platform, per Deadline. The latter, incidentally, is up for a second season release while a third season has been greenlit.

The material is based on Lee Child’s novel and the author will also serve as executive producer. Child has said in 2018 that he has plans to bring “Jack Reacher” to the small screen without Cruise.

“Cruise, for all his talent, didn’t have that physicality,” Child’s said via BBC Radio.  In his books, the character was described as a tall man with hands the “size of dinner plates” which did not fit Cruise’s actual physique.

The character of Jack Reacher was in 23 novels written by Child, thus there’s plenty of material to go along. It is about a military veteran who turns into a freelance investigator.

Despite fans of the book series opposing Cruise for the movies, the first film did quite well at the box office globally with $218 million. The follow-up movie, however, grossed $162 million.

It’s unclear when casting will take place but Child’s also said that he wants his readers to have inputs.

“We’re going to take it to Netflix or something like that. Long form streaming television, with a completely new actor,” Child said. “And 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.”

The production schedule hasn’t been announced as Amazon has yet to complete the casting.