Still reeling from Tom Cruise’s latest action-packed outing in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation? Ready for another helping of the actor kicking ass and taking names? We have good news for you, as Paramount formally confirmed earlier today that Jack Reacher 2 has been slated for a release on October 21, 2016.
Opening in the crowded corridor on the eve of Halloween, this announcement pits the studio’s sequel against Ouija 2 and the long-gestating Underworld 5. Co-produced by Skydance, the fact that Jack Reacher 2 breached and secured the late October launch date means that Warner Bros.’ Geostorm – also financed by Skydance – has quietly been pushed into 2017 as a result.
Set to be helmed by franchise newcomer Ed Zwick, who supplants Christopher McQuarrie in the director’s chair, the sequel’s screenplay will reportedly be handled by Marshall Herskovitz and Richard Wenk. Working to adapt Never Go Back, the 18th novel in Lee Child’s sprawling literary series, there’s not much to report at such an early stage, though you can feast your eyes on the official synopsis of Child’s novel below.
In it, Reacher heads back to his old military base in Virginia to take a woman to dinner who is now the commanding officer. By the time he gets there, she has been arrested, and Reacher finds himself being charged with pummeling one guy and fathering a child with a woman. He can’t remember either transgression but gets to the bottom of it with cunning and sometimes brute force.
Depending on how loyal Jack Reacher 2 remains to the source material, we could be introduced to a title character that is disillusioned from his time on the frontlines. It would certainly lend Herskovitz and Wenk plenty of opportunities to delve into the more darker areas of Reacher’s psyche, now that the hardboiled drifter is relatively established in the cinema space. Besides, though he may not stand at 6ft 5″ tall, Cruise earned his stripes with the audience with a convincing turn in the original. Here’s hoping for a sequel that isn’t afraid to take creative risks and introduce a morally eschewed Reacher come next October.
Tom Cruise will return as the one-man crusade for justice when Jack Reacher 2 pummels its way into theaters on October 21, 2016.