Jack Reacher author Lee Child explains why he ‘vetoed’ third Tom Cruise film

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Lee Child has revealed that he vetoed a third Jack Reacher film starring Tom Cruise, who faced a casting backlash from book readers.

Before Alan Ritchson assumed the role of the hulking action hero in Amazon’s hit Prime Video series Reacher, Cruise played the role in two films: Jack Reacher in 2012 and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back in 2016.

Child previously said that the book series’ fans were “ultimately right” not to approve of Digger star Cruise in the role. In Child’s books, Reacher is described as being “extremely tall” (he’s 6ft, 5in), and “extremely broad, long-armed and long-legged”. In real life, Cruise is 5ft, 7in.

Tom Cruise played Jack Reacher in two films (Paramount Pictures)

The author has shared in a new interview that he had a clause in the movie contract dictating he could choose “whether we would do any more” after two films, and decided to “exercise that veto”.

“The deal was done in 2005, and it finished in a long, long time of development,” he told Collider. “Then the two movies finished in 2017.”

Child didn’t attribute his decision to Cruise’s casting, but to the rise of streaming, believing that adapting Reacher into a series could do the source material more justice than a film. He added that he “had a completely free hand for casting” as “the star on television doesn’t really attract either the audience or the money”.

He continued: “Nobody, I think, now would ever go for a feature film over streaming television for two reasons: first of all, the running time – it’s fabulous luxury. It really is. Eight hours, 10 hours, 12 hours, whatever you want. You can tell the whole story, all the light and shade, all the quiet parts, all the fun parts. It doesn’t have to be rammed together for 90 minutes of content.”

Speaking to The Independent about the backlash to Cruise’s casting in 2025, author Child said that, while he “liked” working with the actor, “the readers, ultimately, were right” in their views.

“I thought the first movie in particular was excellent,” Child said. “It was a really crisp hard-edged thriller. Working with Tom was a pleasure and a privilege – he’s a really smart guy, he’s a smart filmmaker, he’s real fun. But you cannot escape the fact that Reacher is a huge guy.

“I mean, that is a component in his entire approach to the world and the world’s approach to him. He’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. So the readers were terribly upset about it and I think, ultimately, the readers were right.”