Adapting a book into a movie always comes with a massive weight of fan expectations. So when a 5’8 Tom Cruise stepped into the role of Jack Reacher in 2012, some fans were let down by the production’s ignorance of the source material. The movie’s flack has resulted in a reboot being developed over at Amazon Studios with the search for another Jack underway.
But, Jack Reacher writer and director Christopher McQuarrie is reminding fans of a few meticulous details his team made sure to stay true to the books. Check it out:
So there! The Mission Impossible filmmaker regularly takes to Twitter to answer fan questions and the topic of his 2012 film came up this week. As he states, Tom Cruise was given specific scars to match points throughout the book series… but nobody noticed! The actor may not have been the right look for the investigator, but they certainly put some work into keeping his appearance true to the novels.
One fan asked him if a specific bullet wound from the source material was in Jack Reacher as well, he responded as such:
Pretty crazy, huh? It sounds like Christopher McQuarrie and the crew worked really hard to put in these details and felt they were overshadowed by other issues taken with the film franchise. However, some fans did respond to McQuarrie to tell the filmmaker they did notice these details and appreciated them being placed in Jack Reacher.
The 2012 release was a big hit – making $218 globally on a $50 million budget. It marked the first of many collaborations between Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie, who made Edge of Tomorrow, Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation, and Fallout. The pair are gearing up to shoot the Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 back-to-back for summer 2021 and 2022 release dates.
McQuarrie did not return for 2016’s Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and the sequel wasn’t received well among audiences and critics. Now, the author of the Jack Reacher books, Lee Child, is working on the reboot television series for Amazon. A big factor the executives are making sure of this time is to get the character’s 6’5 build right.
Lee Child recently called Tom Cruise “too old” to continue Jack Reacher anyway, advising him to step away from action projects and do character work. Despite being 57, the actor has certainly shown his ability to impress – frequently doing his own stunts. Will Smith even tried to emulate the actor for Bad Boys For Life and couldn’t do it.
Stay tuned for more details on the Jack Reacher series! Tom Cruise will soon reprise his Top Gun role in Maverick on June 26, 2020.
