Lee Child On Cruise As Reacher
Author Lee Child appeared on CBS This Morning yesterday to talk about his new book, A Wanted Man (Delacorte Press; RH Large Print; RHAudio). The interview begins with comments about the striking physical difference between Child’s character, Jack Reacher, who is six-feet-five and 250-pounds, and Tom Cruise, who plays the lead in the upcoming movie, Jack Reacher. Child insists that Cruise is a “fantastic” Reacher, “How? I don’t know. He’s an actor. That’s what they do.”
Child was involved in the making of the film (including a cameo) and was writing A Wanted Man during production. He says the energy of the movie influenced the pacing of the new book.
Jack Reacher, the movie is scheduled for release on 12/21. It’s based on Child’s 9th title in the Jack Reacher series, One Shot. The new book is the 17th.
November 2nd, 2012 at 3:46 pm
If Tom is Reacher, then every other actor needs to be a Hobbit.
I won’t watch it. I don’t want my brain’s image of Reacher to be anything like Tom.
November 19th, 2012 at 7:11 am
Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher? No way!
Why cast the short-arse Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher? What a massive mistake!! Okay, I admit I haven’t seen the film yet but having read many of the fine Reacher novels, and Tom Cruise is definitely not what I imagined Reacher to look like. No, no, no!!
There are three main reoccurring things we know well about Jack Reacher;
• Firstly, he has an in-depth military background, both family and personal.
• Secondly, he is absolutely huge, a real hulk of a man, 6’5” tall and weighing in at 250lbs. Wow, a colossus who can beat the shit out of all the bad guys he encounters – no bother!
• Finally, he is a drifter of no fixed abode, no passport, no bank account, not even a change of clothes, just his trusty tooth-brush.
For me it is these three defining features which make Jack Reacher the man he is; highly skilled, intelligent, cool, brutal, mysterious and free spirited.
The diminutive Cruise clearly does not fit this bill. I can only assume that this terrible piece of miscasting is done in the name of cash and not integrity. I suspect Lee Child has sold the film rights (and possibly his sole?) and allowed the film makers to cast an ‘A’ list Hollywood-type in the role, despite the fact he is half the size of the Jack Reacher he created, to ensure ‘bums-on-seats’.
For me and I’m sure many other Jack Reacher fans, this smacks of selling out. We already have the highly acclaimed Bourne trilogy (not too sure about the most recent Jeremy Renner version) and the excellent recent Bond film Skyfall; a great yarn. I hope Reacher is not being lined up against these two ‘institutions’. I see Reacher more as a Clint Eastwood type, a man on a mission, calm, calculated and definitely not to be messed with.
November 20th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
In which universe could Tom Cruise be Jack Reacher? The film trailer is obviously for the Mission Impossible fans: Sports car, leather jacket, and a “pretty voice”. TC does not, and cannot, intimidate like the real Jack.
This can only be a sell-out, as nobody could intentionally do such awful casting. There are many really tall, muscular, actors that would have been so much better.
December 2nd, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Tom Cruise was awesome as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible’s remake & franchise. But as JACK REACHER??!! Mission Impossible for Hollywood for a horrible miscast. How about Chris Hemsworth??
December 13th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
I am also very disgusted that Tom Cruise has been cast as Jack Reacher. This series is one of my favorite and it is impossible for me (and others!) to think that Tom Cruise is a good fit for this part. I will not see this movie as I cannot stand Tom Cruise as an actor or a person. I do not usually voice my opinion on the internet, but could not help myself this time!
December 27th, 2012 at 12:19 am
Is Tom Cruise a good actor? yes
Is he a Jack Reacher. NO
With all due respect
Anyone who follows Jack Reacher will never be able to accept Cruise as Reacher, Ray Stevenson would have been a Great Reacher but not Cruise
January 17th, 2013 at 8:49 pm
I have read all 17 Reacher books and will not see the movie. Every book has clearly defined and redefined who Reacher is. HE IS NOT TOM CRUISE!! For Lee to now to try and redefine Reacher as some almost “mythological” character that is defined by his deeds only and not by his physicality is an insult. Don’t bother writing another Reacher. I can’t read one with TC as the incarnation of Reacher. I hope Lee got enough $ to make it worth it.