Tom Cruise may be reteaming with The Last Samurai team of Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for a Jack Reacher sequel, now that Paramount and Skydance have entered into negotiations with the pair to rewrite a script by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer) adapted from the Lee Child novel Never Go Back. If a deal is made, Zwick will also sit behind the camera on what’s being tentatively called Jack Reacher 2.
Though it was first believed that a sequel to the 2012 actioner was a no-go given underwhelming box office receipts, it was later revealed that Paramount and Skydance were planning to use Never Go Back as the source material. Everyone wanted Jack Reacher director Christopher McQuarrie to return to take the reins, but he was too busy in post-production on Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (also with Cruise) to commit to anything. And so, the studios started looking elsewhere.
Cruise starred in Zwick’s The Last Samurai, so he likely put in a good word for the writer-director, who has also helmed Blood Diamond and Defiance.
Never Go Back picks up with Reacher heading to an important meeting with Major Susan Turner at a military base located in Virginia. Things go awry very quickly when Turner is arrested and Reacher is accused of a crime he doesn’t remember. Faced with a different commanding officer and a child he doesn’t know, Reacher sets out on a cross-country odyssey to find Turner and clear his name, all the while staying one step ahead of his enemies. With the FBI, D.C. Metro Police and unknown adversaries dogging his every step, Reacher discovers just how far he’s willing to go to protect himself and his way of life.
It’s unclear how far the film adaptation will stick to that story, especially because Rosamund Pike’s rising star post-Gone Girl may mean that Paramount and Skydance want her to reprise the role of Helen, who does not appear in Child’s novel. As always though, we’ll keep you posted when we hear more.
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