By the time he realized that there was no point in playing Jack Reacher on the big screen anymore, Tom Cruise hadn’t yet rebounded with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and was years away from “saving theaters” with Top Gun: Maverick. But his decision to abandon the Reacher franchise after two films probably didn’t upset anybody, including author Lee Child, upon whose books the movies were based. Cruise played the mysterious investigator in two films that received mediocre reviews, and left fans of the source novels rather dissatisfied. They’ve since embraced the small-screen reboot of the series, headlined by the far more accurately cast Alan Ritchson. The show’s success on Prime Video has invariably resulted in Cruise’s films gaining traction at home as well, as could be seen on November 6, when they found spots on the top 10 lists of two different platforms.

According to FlixPatrol, both Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back were among the 10 most-watched titles globally on Netflix and Paramount+. It’s highly unusual for something like this to happen, but the curious thing is that on both leader boards, it was Jack Reacher 2 that gained more eyeballs. The movie had originally underperformed in theaters, grossing just around $160 million worldwide against a reported budget of $80 million. Directed by the journeyman Edward Zwick, who previously directed Cruise on the blockbuster film The Last Samurai, Jack Reacher 2 earned poor reviews. It’s now sitting at a 37% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, whose pithy consensus reads, “Monotonously formulaic, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is one action thriller sequel whose title also serves as a warning.”

Lee Child Praises Cruise, but Admits He Was Miscast

The first Jack Reacher movie made over $200 million globally against a reported budget of $60 million. It marked Cruise’s first collaboration with Christopher McQuarrie in a directorial capacity, after working on several projects where McQuarrie served as a writer. The movie received mixed reviews, but years later, Child admitted that Cruise was miscast in the central role. “Reacher’s huge, he’s implacable, he’s scary, and for all Tom’s ability in getting the internals of Reacher out, he is not huge and he’s not scary,” Child told The Independent, adding that Ritchson was “born to play” the character. The Reacher show recently concluded its third season, and fans can now look forward to a spin-off, titled Neagley.

You can watch Cruise’s Reacher movies at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Release Date

December 21, 2012

Runtime

2h 10m