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Did Tom Cruise Poke Fun At His Own Height During Jack Reacher? (Photo Credit – Facebook)

When Tom Cruise was cast as Jack Reacher, fans of Lee Child’s novels weren’t sold. Why? Well, Reacher is a 6ft 5 powerhouse and Cruise? He’s a solid 5ft 8. A bit of a size mismatch. But here’s the kicker: Cruise knew exactly what was up. He wasn’t blind to the irony. Cruise was fully aware of being slightly vertically challenged for the role.

During an interview, Lee Child, the author of the series, revealed that Cruise himself made a joke about it in a scene that didn’t make it to the 2012 film. “In the first movie, there’s a scene where Reacher’s in a sports bar, and five guys pick a fight with him,” Child shared. “When we shot that scene, [Cruise] did a sort of spontaneous alternative where the...

What to Watch on Netflix This Weekend? The Best New Releases to Binge-Watch (November 1-3) - Main Image

Stuck in a binge-watching slump? Netflix has upcoming new theatrical releases coming this weekend. Here's a list of what to watch on Netflix from November 1 to 3.

From Zachary Levi's Harold and the Purple Crayon to classic Christmas romcoms, check out what's in store for the week!

5 Movies Netflix Released For Your Weekend BingeTime Cut (2024)Martha (2024)Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024)Let Go (2024)

Netflix recently aired the documentary of one of America's most iconic self-made billionaires, Martha Stewart in October.

Right up that alley is the new international drama, Let Go, where estranged family ties attempt to rekindle their once-broken connection.

But if you're leaning more into fictional tales, Time Cut follows a teenager who gets to stop her sister from getting murdered in the future.

Meanwhile, Zachary Levi's latest release, Harold and the Purple Crayon...

Not to give you a fright head of Halloween, but an alarming number of fan-favorite movies will be leaving Netflix by the end of October 2024. We all know that movies tend to come and go on Netflix, so even though a long list of movies are departing Netflix this month, the cycle will continue and some might even pop back up in future months.

Last month saw the departures of the Divergent and Fifty Shades of Grey movies, along with beloved movies like A Walk to Remember and The Breakfast Club. This month, as many hit movies are leaving Netflix, too. The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Crazy Rich Asians, It Follows, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, and more have already left with lots more still to leave.

If you're hoping to have a Chucky marathon on Halloween, you're in luck. You'll be able to watch right under the wire, as...

Tom Cruise’s affiliation with Scientology has raised numerous headlines over the years. Ever since the Church has come under intense public scrutiny for its controversies, Cruise’s association with the organization has been criticized by many fans. However, the Mission Impossible star admitted that Scientology is the primary reason for his highly successful career.

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | Credits: Paramount Pictures

The Church of Scientology attracted extensive media attention after multiple documentaries exposed several alleged dark secrets associated with the religion. Even ex-members like Leah Remini also came out to address the alleged negative impacts of the Church’s teachings.

Tom Cruise did not hesitate to thank Scientology for his career Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back | Credits: Skydance

Tom Cruise, with his vast experience, fantastic filmography, and love for death-defying stunts in his films, amassed a gargantuan fanbase. With his acting skills and charismatic aura,...

Tom Cruise starred in numerous blockbuster films throughout his career. While he has delivered exceptional performances, the action star has notably done only two sequels outside of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Top Gun: Maverick and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.

Top Gun: Maverick | Credit: Paramount Pictures

While Maverick turned out to be a massive hit, renewing the action film series with the 2022 sequel, the same could not be said about the latter. After Christopher McQuarrie’s 2012 film, Edward Zwick took over the sequel, which ultimately fell short of expectations.

The filmmaker later reflected on the movie’s failure in his book, admitting that his attempt to put a personal spin on the story ultimately led to the downfall of the franchise.

Edward Zwick Reflected on the Failure of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Based on Lee Child’s bestselling novels, Jack Reacher follows Tom Cruise as the titular hero,...

P. Diddy and the music industry have been shaking at large with the former’s arrest, following a slew of allegations that range from sexual racketeering to trafficking. With new accusations mounting each day, there seems to be a lot of commotion about who would get indicted in the case.

American rapper P. Diddy | Credits: Shamsuddin Muhammad via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

This case has put Diddy’s Freak Off parties into the focus, bringing many problematic aspects of his life into the mainstream. It is as if every A-list celebrity has found their way into the scandal, thanks to attending parties that Diddy arranged.

However, some celebrities steered clear of the rapper and his parties, essentially earning them a clean chit at a time when industry giants like Megan Fox, Leonardo Di Caprio, and the Kardashians are scrambling to cover their cases.

Keanu Reeves Keanu Reeves in John Wick 4...

When it comes to starring in book adaptations, there appears to be a daunting task for any actor to fit into the description of characters mentioned in the original storyline. Such a task once befell Alan Ritchson, when he took on the role of Jack Reacher, the rugged ex-military cop from Lee Child’s best-selling novels.

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher | Image: Amazon Prime

Considering how Jack Reacher happens to be one of the few figures that loom large compared to any average-sized human, Alan Ritchson’s embodiment became a formidable task for him. But how accurate was his physical representation of Reacher, especially since he wasn’t the only actor to take on the towering stature and imposing presence of Lee Child’s character?

How Tall is Alan Ritchson Compared to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher?

When Prime Video picked up Lee Child’s novels about the ex-military cop...

For more than thirty years (and more than thirty novels), author James Patterson has been writing stories about Metropolitan Police Department detective Alex Cross, a character who was played by Morgan Freeman in the films Kiss the Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001), and by Tyler Perry in the 2012 film Alex Cross. The latest actor take on the role is Aldis Hodge, whose credits include Die Hard with a Vengeance, A Good Day to Die Hard, Straight Outta Compton, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Hidden Figures, The Invisible Man, One Night in Miami, and Black Adam. Hodge will be playing Cross in the Prime Video series Cross, which is set to premiere on November 14th. All eight episodes of the show’s first season will be available to watch on that date – and Prime Video has already ordered a second season. With the premiere date not far off, a trailer...

Netflix released the first half of Emily in Paris‘ fourth season Aug. 15, and as a result got just over half of the tune-in for the show’s last full-season premiere.

The dramedy starring Lily Collins gathered 792 million minutes of viewing in the United States for its premiere week, according to Nielsen’s streaming ratings. That was good for third place among original series and ninth overall, but was also down 43 percent from the 1.39 billion minutes for the first week of season three’s release — which featured all 10 episodes of that installment, as opposed to five this time out.

The previous week’s top two shows, Prison Break and The Umbrella Academy, held their spots for the week of Aug. 12-18 — and their numbers were consistent as well. Prison Break actually ticked up a little to 1.61 billion minutes of viewing (versus 1.6 billion the week before), while The Umbrella Academy (1.39 billion) was...

In its second week on Netflix, Prison Break rocketed to the top of Nielsen’s streaming rankings.

The former Fox series, which also streams on Hulu, was added to Netflix on July 29 and made its streaming chart debut that week. For the week of Aug. 5-11, it more than doubled the previous frame’s viewing time, rising from 758 million to 1.6 billion minutes. (Hulu, incidentally, is developing a new version of Prison Break with Mayans Mc showrunner Elgin James.)

Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy — whose final season premiered Aug. 8 — was the top original series for the week, coming in at 1.46 billion minutes of viewing. That’s a strong showing, but also down a good amount from the 2.45 billion minutes the show recorded the week of its season three premiere in June 2022.

The Umbrella Academy was the only original title to make the overall top 10; none did in the previous week, the...

A 2016 action movie starring Tom Cruise has seen a surge in popularity on streaming services years after its release in theaters. “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” was watched for nearly 700 million minutes last week on Netflix and Paramount+, showing the film still attracts viewers.

The movie follows the character Jack Reacher, a former military police officer played by Cruise. In the film, Reacher teams up with Major Susan Turner, played by Cobie Smulders, to uncover a conspiracy while evading espionage charges. When it came to theaters, the movie received mixed reviews but made over $160 million worldwide.

Streaming viewership data from The Hollywood Reporter shows just how many people are watching the movie now. “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” had 697 million minutes viewed from July 29 to August 4. That’s more than recent blockbusters like “Planet of the Apes” with 560 million minutes and “Trolls” with 506 million minutes, both on Hulu.

Not everyone...

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Nielsen’s Top 10 list featured no original titles for the first time ever as audiences set their sights on the athletes competing for the gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics in the last week of July.

“This is a notable interval in streaming not because of the heights it achieved nor records it set, but because streaming levels actually decreased significantly in the face of an onslaught of Olympic programming,” the firm wrote in its report covering July 29-Aug. 4. “By comparison, the first week of July had a full slate (ten out of ten) of billion-minute titles, whereas this week featured only two. Peacock bucked the trend with an extraordinarily strong week, driven by simultaneous coverage of the Paris Games.”

“House of the Dragon” and “Bluey” were the only shows...

The Olympics brought in very strong streaming numbers for Peacock during the first full week of the games. For other streamers? Not so much.

No original series or movie made the overall top 10 titles in Nielsen’s streaming rankings for the week of July 29-Aug. 4. That’s a first in the four-year history of the weekly rankings, according to the ratings service. Streaming levels outside of the Olympics “decreased significantly” during the week, Nielsen says.

House of the Dragon, however, continued its strong showing on Max (since the show also airs on HBO, Nielsen considers it an acquired series rather than an original). The Game of Thrones prequel topped the week leading up to its second season finale with 1.31 billion minutes of viewing, up from 1.04 billion a week earlier and its best mark of the season so far.

(Nielsen also adjusted viewing totals for HotD down slighlty for the weeks...

The Paris Olympics stole the spotlight on streaming in the first week of August, according to Nielsen.

The company’s latest streaming report shows no streaming original titles in the Top 10 for the first time since it began sending out these weekly newsletters in the beginning of 2020. Only two titles, House of the Dragon (considered an HBO and therefore linear/acquired title) and Bluey managed to crack the billion-minute mark at all from July 29 to August 4.

Earlier this month, NBCUniversal reported that the Paris Olympics generated 23.5B minutes of streaming across all digital platforms, including Peacock, which was putting up some of its best usage days ever during this period. In its report Thursday, Nielsen reiterated that Peacock had an “extraordinarily strong” week.

Even though Peacock only served three days of Olympics programming in July, the streamer’s usage was still boosted to its second highest ever, accounting for 1.5% of...

Time and time again, we’ve seen how combining big-name Hollywood stars in a made-for-streaming movie is a recipe for success. Netflix’s latest attempt at that formula teams up Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry in “The Union,” and it pays off. The action comedy sits atop the streaming chart on the Samba TV Weekly Wrap Report for the week of August 12 to 18, 2024.

“American Murder: Laci Peterson,” a true crime docuseries about the 2002 murder, comes in at No. 2 this week. It’s followed by “Furioisa, A Mad Max Saga,” which, conveniently for viewers searching across streamers, is on Max. The summer blockbuster, which hit theaters on Memorial Day, is the third-most watched program this week.

The fourth season of Netflix’s popular “Emily in Paris” enters the chart at No. 4 this week after it was added to the library on August 15.

In fifth place, Max is showing that it’s...

For the sixth straight Monday, a new and different film is #1 on VOD at both iTunes and Fandango. “Twisters” (Universal), which grossed almost $10 million in theaters last weekend, is the latest summer hit to reach home viewing.

By design or accident, studios have spaced out their releases so every week brings a new top film. Since the VOD debut of “Civil War” back in late May-early June, no film has enjoyed more than a week as #1 on VOD.

As always, the timing for PVOD debuts don’t align with theatrical runs; “Twisters” and “Despicable Me 2” were released later than “Inside Out 2.” That’s no surprise — Universal is usually the quickest to go to PVOD; Disney tested the waters with streaming exclusives and same-day PVOD but now maintains the longest windows. “Inside Out 2” will hit PVOD after its 10th weekend, while it’s still in the theatrical top...

House of the Dragon aired its season 2 finale back on August 4, and despite some misgivings among fans, it was a ratings hit. That's according to The Wrap Report, which measures streaming and linear TV viewing according to "viewership trends collected from Samba TV's panel of more than 3 million households, balanced to the U.S. Censes." These ratings might not be quite as unimpeachable as Nielsen ratings, but they still give us a good idea of what people are watching. Check out the top 10 streaming programs from the week of August 5-11:

House of the Dragon (Max)Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (Netflix)A Good Girl's Guide to Murder season 1 (Netflix)Jack Reacher (Netflix)Kingdomof the Planet of the Apes (Hulu)The Umbrella Academy season 4 (Netflix)Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (Netflix)Descendants: The Rise of Red (Disney+)Despicable Me 4 (VOD)The Instigators (Apple TV+)

As usual,...

When Kevin Hart started out, he made himself the butt of most of the jokes in his self-deprecating standup routines. Now, he fancies himself as a Hip Hop mogul type, launching businesses left and right and producing a steady stream of TV shows and films. Unfortunately, this flurry of output in recent years hasn't all been that great. Earlier this year, Hart starred in "Lift," which topped the Netflix charts despite being yet another generic streaming flick quickly buried by the tide of "content" spewing forth in the streaming age. Prior to that, Hart tried to bring an air of prestige to his streaming exploits by convincing Wesley Snipes to play his brother in Netflix limited series "True Story." Sadly for the comedian, Snipes proved to be the best thing about the show.

But none of this has deterred Hart. He's hosting Peacock chat shows, playing vault hunters in the...

What can we find at the end of the dragon’s tail? More dragons, apparently. After airing its season 2 finale on August 4, “House of the Dragon” was still the most-watched streaming program on the Samba TV Weekly Wrap Report for the week of Aug. 5-11, as viewers caught up on the season.

Even in a week during which it did not release a new episode, “Dragon” bested this week’s big streaming series debut, “The Umbrella Academy” Season 4. Netflix added the six-episode season on Aug. 8 and drew enough households to place the series at No. 6 this week. The first episode of Season 4 was seen by 559,000 U.S. households during the first four days it was available.

Oddly, “Umbrella Academy” wasn’t the most noteworthy addition to the Netflix library. Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher films were recently added to the streamer and made the Top 10 this week. “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,...

Tom Cruise continues to attract audiences to his films, even years after they first hit theaters. Cruise’s two “Jack Reacher” movies from 2012 and 2016 have surged up the popularity rankings on the streaming service Netflix. As of this week, the first film “Jack Reacher” sits at number seven on Netflix’s most-streamed list. Its sequel “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is doing even better at number five.

This renewed interest may seem surprising since the sequel received mixed reviews and made less money at the box office than the original. Still, both films have found a new audience on Netflix. Experts say this highlights Cruise’s lasting star power to draw viewers to his work, whether in theaters or on streaming. The films show that a theatrical debut can keep a movie memorable later on other platforms.

Some credit also goes to the Prime Video TV series adaptation of the “Jack Reacher” character.

Tom Cruise is one of the world's biggest movie stars, and he's demonstrating that right now on Netflix. The actor has not one, but two movies dominating the top ten charts on the streamer at the moment. What's more, both movies are from the same franchise. No, it's not "Mission: Impossible." Rather, it's Cruise's turn as Jack Reacher that's getting a second look on Netflix, with his two films playing the Lee Childs character both being streamed by millions of viewers as we speak.

As of this writing, 2012's "Jack Reacher" and 2016's "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" are both firmly in the list of the top ten most-streamed movies on Netflix, sitting at the number seven and five spots, respectively. It's fascinating, given that Cruise has since been replaced as the character by Alan Ritchson in Prime Video's "Reacher" TV show. Has the popularity of that show helped...

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The debut of “Umbrella Academy’s” fourth and final season was just barely outpaced by “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,” which was Netflix’s most-watched English TV show of the week.

The two Netflix series were neck and neck with 8.4 million views during the week of Aug. 5, which saw the Aug. 8 premiere of “The Umbrella Academy” Season 4 and marked “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’s” second week on the streamer after its Aug. 1 release. Viewership for “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” grew slightly from its debut week, when it also scored the title of that week’s most-watched English TV show with 7.4 million views.

Viewership for “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” and “The Umbrella Academy” Season 4 more than doubled that of the No. 3 title on the list,...

The #1 movie of 2024 (“Inside Out 2”), as well as #3 (“Despicable Me 4”), and #7 (“Kung Fu Panda”) are animated features. The medium’s representations continue in streaming results, with Universal releasing “Despicable Me 4” on PVOD last week. An immediate #1 at both iTunes and Fandango, it remained at #5 in theaters last weekend. It added another $8 million for a $330 million totall as usual, marketing for home viewing might have boosted its box office.

And somehow, Sony’s 2017 “The Emoji Movie” is now a hit. It grossed $217 million worldwide amidst blistering reviews; it debuted on Netflix this weekend and jumped to #1. It reinforces the notion that animation is foolproof as long as it seems fresh.

It is one of four animated titles on Netflix’s list, which includes one Netflix original, as well as “Trolls Band Together” and “The Lorax” from Universal. However, the eight-month run of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” may be over.

Author Lee Child’s vigilante ex-Army cop, Jack Reacher, spawned two film adaptations — Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back — further launching Tom Cruise into the action hero stratosphere, where he’s committed to doing all his own stunts and kicking ass, like, all the time. Partaken of the Reacher films and looking to expand your action flick watch list? Here are a few more pew pew pew!–filled thrillers to get down with.

Just as rumors spread about action star Tom Cruise’s Paris Olympics closing ceremony stunt, the Jack Reacher films hit streaming. Coincidence? Maybe. But what better time than now to tune into the bestselling novels’ first film adaptations, Jack Reacher (2012) and its sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back(2016). Plus, how else will you pass the time before witnessing whatever cliff Cruise flies off next?

The first film — from the director of the last three Mission: Impossible films, Christopher McQuarrie — stars Cruise as ruthless justice-seeker Jack Reacher, after he’s called upon to run an independent investigation to find the true identity of a deadly sniper. The sequel, from The Last Samurai director Edward Zwick, follows Reacher as he, in an attempt to exonerate a friend from being framed, gets targeted by law enforcement and ends up on the run before discovering a massive conspiracy.

Stream Jack Reacher and Jack...

If you're not up for contributing to "Deadpool & Wolverine" absolutely obliterating the box office, you can always turn to streaming for your entertainment fix. Of course, as we all know by now, doing so is somewhat akin to wading into a dangerous and stagnant swamp from which you might never escape. Everyone has experienced the despair that comes with endlessly scrolling streaming catalogs wondering how, when everything is at our fingertips, there's nothing to watch. Well, now a real hero has arrived in the form of Bruce Willis.

Yes, the man himself may have retired from acting following his 2023 diagnosis of frontotemporal degeneration, but he remains a hero to us all, and is proving his remarkably enduring appeal once again. This time, he's doing just that by cutting through the murk of the Netflix swamp with 2010's "Red," an adaptation of Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner's comic book...

Paramount is the big winner in home viewing at the moment on VOD platforms and at Netflix. The just-released “A Quiet Place: Day One” is #1 at both iTunes (ranking by transactions) and Fandango (by revenue), adding to its success after grossing $137 million in domestic box office so far.

Meantime, Paramount-produced films currently take three of the top five spots on Netflix’s movie top 10, led by Tom Cruise in two “Jack Reacher” movies, “Never Go Back” at #1 and the original at #5. #2 right now is “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie,” an offshoot of Paramount-owned Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” empire, which earlier led the list.

Like Sony, Paramount is happy to take Netflix’s money even if it means removing content from their in-house streamer, Paramount+. The “Jack Reacher” movies are not abnormal — all studios other than Disney have some licensing output deal with the streaming leader. But taking homegrown originals — “Saving Bikini Bottom,...

It's finally the weekend, which just so happens to coincide with the beginning of August. The start of a new month always brings dozens of new releases to Netflix, and it can be overwhelming to learn what's been added to the streamer and what should be added to your watch list.

On the first of August, Netflix dropped so many great new releases, including Fire Country season 1, Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, two Dr. Seuss movies, multiple Chucky movies and more horror, White Chicks, The Spectacular Now, and plenty of great picks for a binge-watch weekend.

In the spirit of the Olympics and watching Simone Biles win gold, you could bypass the new releases and check out the first two episodes of the Olympic gymnast's documentary series Simone Biles Rising. More new releases, like Unsolved Mysteries and Prison Break, are also in the top 10.

Beyond these titles above, there's so...

Emily is still in Paris, Zack Snyder unleashes his latest “Snyder Cuts,” the Hargreeves children have to save the world one more time, the Terminator goes animated and a host of AMC gems are among the highlights of a busy month of new releases on Netflix.

On Aug. 1, the six-part mystery series A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder debuts on Netflix. In the show, Wednesday star Emma Myers (with a solid British accent!) plays a teenage gumshoe who gets to the bottom of a homicide case years earlier in a small English village in this adaptation of Holly Jackson’s popular YA novel. Created by Poppy Cogan the show has Miss Marple vibes and also stars Zain Iqbal, Asha Banks, Mathew Baynton, Gary Beadle and Anna Maxwell Martin.

Hoping to repeat the “Snyder Cut” magic on Aug. 2, Netflix releases director’s cut versions of Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon – Part...

Look, there’s no way around this: August is a slow month for TV, and Netflix isn’t any different. Splashy fall TV is right around the corner, but August seems best designed to catch up on some of the best TV of the year so far that you may have missed.

It’s not a total wasteland, however: “Emily in Paris” returns this month for Season 4 Part 1. The internet loves to make fun of it, but the dreamed is truly one of the best brain-dead shows to watch when it’s too hot to do much of anything else. Lily Collins wears the most amazing outfits! There’s lots of kissing! Why do you think you’re better than it?! Much like other recent Netflix hits such as “Bridgerton,” “Emily in Paris” Season 4 will be divided into two parts, with Part 1 dropping August 15 and Part 2 debuting a month later.

Alan Ritchson’s role as Jack Reacher in the Amazon Prime Video series Reacher is the second iteration of the popular character. Based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels, the first cinematic adaptation of the character was played by Tom Cruise in Christopher McQuarrie’s Jack Reacher and its sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.

While Cruise’s iteration received mixed responses from the fans, Alan Ritchson’s depiction received better responses, especially for his look. The Titans star revealed that he channeled one character that he was inspired by Kevin Costner’s Waterworld during his audition for the series. He mentioned that the decision almost caused him to lose out on the role.

Alan Ritchson Was Initially Rejected By The Makers Of Reacher Alan Ritchson in Reacher

Actor Alan Ritchson gained notoriety for his role as Aquaman in CW’s Smallville. After appearing in Titans as Hawk, Ritchson...

Filmmaker Edward Zwick, whose credits include About Last Night, Glory, Legends of the Fall, The Siege, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, Defiance, Love & Other Drugs, Pawn Sacrifice, and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (not to mention co-creating Thirtysomething), recently published a memoir called Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood (pick up a copy Here). This book contains some very interesting passages – like the one on Zwick’s Jack Reacher regrets, and another where he reveals how impressed Denzel Washington was by Matt Damon’s performance when they were on the set of Zwick’s 1996 film Courage Under Fire.

Zwick wrote, “As we finished Matt’s coverage, Denzel caught my eye and nodded approvingly. Later, he took me aside. ‘Who is that kid?’ he asked. I told him it was Matt’s first big role. ‘Damn,’ he said. ‘Better get my game on. He almost blew me off the screen.

Sure, Tom Cruise doesn’t look anything like the Jack Reacher character as described in the novels by Lee Child – but the average movie-goer didn’t seem to mind in 2012, when audiences showed up to make the film Jack Reacher, written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie (based on Child’s novel One Shot) a box office success. Made on a budget of $60 million, Jack Reacher earned over $218 million worldwide. It looked like Cruise had a new franchise on his hands. But sometimes bizarre decisions are made in the name of franchise filmmaking. With McQuarrie busy working on a different Cruise franchise (Mission: Impossible), the Jack Reacher sequel was passed over to Cruise’s The Last Samurai director Edward Zwick. A promising start. But then the questionable decisions began, resulting in a sequel – 2016’s Jack Reacher: Never Go Back – that fell short of its predecessor in every way.

Zwick reflects on...

Tom Cruise introduced the character of Jack Reacher in the film industry, but his portrayal was marred with certain issues that left fans feeling he did not really nail the role. Alan Ritchson, who picked up the character in the Prime Video series, looked the part and absolutely delivered an incredible performance.

Alan Ritchson in Reacher

Still, the original Jack Reacher director does not put the blame on Cruise. He admitted the mistake was on his side and knew the actor was only miscast. However, he expressed interest in making another film if the Mission: Impossible actor wants to reprise the role.

SUGGESTEDAlan Ritchson Was Convinced ‘Reacher’ Would Be Offered to Dwayne Johnson After Franchise Rejected Him the First Time

Jack Reacher Director Blames Himself For The Franchise’s Demise

In his recently published memoir, Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood, director Edward Zwick detailed the...

To paraphrase all those singing nuns, how do you solve a problem like Jack Reacher? If you're Christopher McQuarrie, you hire your movie star pal, Tom Cruise (despite the actor's notable height difference from the character as depicted in author Lee Child's novels — more on that later), and make a fabulous, still-underseen '70s-style political thriller/neo-noir film. If you're showrunner Nick Santora, you develop a TV series for Prime Video, hire the biggest Mack truck-looking dude you can, and make "a sharp, self-aware action caper," as /Film's own Valerie Ettenhoffer described it.

However, if you're Edward Zwick, you team up with your old "The Last Samurai" cohort Cruise and attempt to follow up McQuarrie's film with something a little bit different, seeing if there may be more to Reacher beneath his brooding brutality. Sadly, this approach failed to connect with audiences when Zwick's film, "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,...

About 20 notebooks are socked away in producer-director-writer Edward Zwick’s office in no particular order, full of odd magazine clippings and notes. During the pandemic he rooted through them and rewatched his work, looking for the nuggets and details that would become his memoir “Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood.”

He chronicles a television career with longtime Bedford Falls partner Marshall Herskovitz — together they created “Thirtysomething,” “Once and Again,” and “My So-Called Life” — but much of the book tracks Zwick in the movie business, from Demi Moore and Rob Lowe in “About Last Night” in 1986, “Legends of the Fall” with Brad Pitt in 1994, “The Last Samurai” with Tom Cruise in 2003, “Blood DIamond” with Leonardo DiCaprio in 2006, and his last outing with Cruise, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” in 2016.

Zwick and I have talked many times over the years; we reconvened over Zoom to parse his book,...

What links: a drug dealer in Trainspotting, a wrestling referee in The World According to Garp, a disgruntled restaurant guest in The Night Manager, an Aunt who slaps Madeline Brewer’s face in The Handmaid’s Tale, and a police officer in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back?

Correct! They were all cameo appearances in films and TV shows made by the author of the original books. While writers are as a rule happier out of the limelight thinking up their metaphors while hunched solo over a keyboard, every so often they straighten their spines to walk self-consciously through the back of shot in a movie based on one of their books. It’s fun for them. Gets them out of the house.

Best-selling thriller author Harlan Coben (the man behind the ever-growing Harlan Coben Screen Universe) is no different. Of the dozen TV series adapted from his twist-packed novels, he’s...

Now that Alan Ritchson is playing Jack Reacher in Amazon Prime Video's Reacher series, the star is being compared to Tom Cruise, who also took on the same role.

Although Ritchson is now halfway through his second season of work on Reacher, the character came to the big screen over a decade ago as Tom Cruise played the classic Lee Child character in 2012's Jack Reacher and the 2016 sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.

Is Alan Ritchson Tired of Tom Cruise Reacher Comps? Read full article on The Direct.

Maybe there is a reason Reacher usually says nothing.

Alan Ritchson, who plays the man mountain of a Lee Child character on TV, shared with Jimmy Kimmel how he reached out (no pun intended) to Tom Cruise to acknowledge the movie megastar’s contribution to the role.

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Jack Reacher originated in the series of novels by Lee Child, in which he's described as 250 pounds, 6-ft 5-inches, and as having "a six-pack like a cobbled city street, a chest like a suit of NFL armor, biceps like basketballs, and subcutaneous fat like a Kleenex tissue." But when Hollywood got a hold of him, they hired Tom Cruise to portray that mountain of muscle in 2012's "Jack Reacher" and 2016's "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back." Unfortunately, at 5-ft 7 inches, the "Mission: Impossible" star just didn't work for many fans. An article in the LA Times quotes one incensed Reacher adherent thusly:

"I can not [sic] believe they actually used an arrogant overexposed short Imbecile to create such an awesome character. I will not see it and it literally Ruined the whole character for me. How Could They Do This?"

After "Never Go Back," Cruise's diminutive version of the ex-military police officer disappeared.

Gear up for a new season of Amazon’s breakout action hit Reacher, which is based on the popular novels by Lee Child that served as the basis for Tom Cruise’s attempted franchise, Jack Reacher. Although Cruise’s film adaptation was able to capitalize with the sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Prime Video’s Reacher series aimed to stick closer to the novels and presents a new case for each season. For example, major characters from season one, like Roscoe and Oscar Finlay, will not play prominent roles in this season. Prime Video has just released the teaser for tomorrow’s premiere for the trailer to season 2 of the Alan Ritchson-starring drama.

According to ScreenRant, “Reacher season 2 will be based on Child’s book Bad Luck and Trouble, the 11th book in the ongoing series. In the book, Reacher is contacted by someone from his former military unit,...

In a surprise to basically no one, Tom Cruise rides a motorbike off a cliff in the summer blockbuster “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” which was released in theaters this summer after three years of stop-and-start production and is now beginning its life on home video. The action superstar insists on doing his own stunt work, and has been talking about it since 1996, the year the first “Mission: Impossible” movie came out. In each successive movie, the stunts have gotten more intense: hanging off the tallest building in the world, attaching himself to the outside of an airplane while it takes off and flying his own helicopter through a treacherous mountain range.

But trying to quantify the cost to insure the action star can be a Hollywood Mission Impossible.

To be sure, Cruise’s risky exploits can raise the overall insurance cost for a film — creating a sort...

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“One Piece” has continued its reign atop Netflix’s most-watched TV list for a third week in a row.

The live action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s manga, which scored an early Season 2 renewal at the streamer, has logged an additional 10 million views this week, according to a release Tuesday. Its impressive viewership builds on its first week atop the list, when it debuted to the with 18.5 million views. The series then drew another 19.3 million views in its second week.

Like last week, the fifth installment of “Virgin River” was next on the list in the No. 2 spot with 9.6 million views, and limited thriller series “Who Is Erin Carter?” maintained its third place on the list with 3.8 million views. U.K. comedy “Top Boy” also held onto the No. 4 spot...

One Piece held onto the treasured top spot among Netflix’s English-language TV series for the week of September 11 to 17.

Monkey D. Luffy and his crew charmed their way to another 10M views, the same week that the live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s best-selling manga was renewed for a second season. The series has now tallied about 48M views since it launched on Netflix just under three weeks ago.

But it was the new romantic comedy film Love At First Sight that was the most-viewed title of the week. The film starring Haley Lu Richardson and Ben Hardy soared to the top of the English Films List in its debut week with 14.1M views.

Adam Sandler’s You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah was No. 2 on the list, keeping up its four-week streak on the Top 10 with another 4.6M views.

Other films on the list included Woody Woodpecker,...

Alan Ritchson fully embodied Jack Reacher while fronting the first season of Prime Video's "Reacher." But there are plenty of people behind the scenes who made the series the successful adaptation of Lee Child's book series that it was.

Producer Don Granger is one of those people. Child has spoken about how Granger, a longtime friend of the author, was the one that sealed the deal when it came to casting Ritchson, by almost immediately telling Child, "he's the guy." The producer had previously worked with both Child and Tom Cruise on the first film adaptation of the Jack Reacher novels, 2012's "Jack Reacher" and the 2016 follow-up, "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back." He'd also worked closely with Cruise since joining the actor and Paula Wagner's Cruise/Wagner Productions back in 2004, later taking his talents to Skydance Productions where he produced "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" and "Top Gun: Maverick," among other projects.

Since Amazon's "Reacher" proved a big hit on Prime Video, star Alan Ritchson has made no secret of his love for the source material. Lee Child has written 28 Jack Reacher books which have enjoyed massive popularity, leading to two Tom Cruise-starring movies back in 2012 and 2016. Unfortunately, fans weren't all that impressed with Cruise's stature, which just didn't convey the quiet power readers associated with Child's 6-ft 5-inch hero. And so, after 2016's "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back," Child decided to rethink how his books were being adapted, which ultimately led to the streaming series that topped the Nielsen streaming chart on its debut and introduced audiences to a much more fitting on-screen representation of the protagonist.

Alan Ritchson, who was best known for his roles in the "Hunger Games" movies and on TV shows such as "Smallville" and "Titans," had to audition twice for "Reacher," eventually landing...

Back in 2012, Lee Child's wildly popular Jack Reacher character made his way to the big screen in the form of the Tom Cruise-led "Jack Reacher." The film did solid box office numbers and a sequel, "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" was rolled out in 2016. Unfortunately, die-hard fans of Child's books weren't all too impressed with the 5-foot 7-inch Cruise playing the role of what was supposed to be an intimidating 6-foot 5-inch hulk of a man. So, once "Never Go Back" proved less financially successful than its predecessor, Child took his IP and went back to the drawing board. And in 2022, the Prime Video streaming series "Reacher" debuted to massive viewership, with 6-foot 3-inch Alan Ritchson in the lead role.

Throughout Jack Reacher's on-screen career, Child was never far away, shepherding his creation as he traversed the perilous landscape of Hollywood. Aside from being an executive producer on "Reacher,...

On screen, Tom Cruise may look larger than life, but if you could ever get him to stop running and measure his height, you might find that he's one of those Napoleonic actors who's shorter in person than he looks on celluloid. The movie magic of shoe lifts and low-angle shots enables Cruise to fill the screen the way Alan Ritchson, star of the current "Reacher" series on Prime Video, fills the room in real life.

Cruise's action bona fides in the "Mission: Impossible" film series speak for themselves, but the actor is 5 foot 7, and this is part of the reason why loyal readers of the "Jack Reacher" book series — written by Jim Grant under the pen name Lee Child — were taken aback by his casting in the two "Jack Reacher" movies. Cruise's version of Reacher comes across more as a guy who's underestimated because of his size. Ritchson, by contrast,...

Jack Reacher will soon return to our screens with "Reacher" season 2. The show proved to be a huge hit for Amazon Prime Video, topping the Nielsen streaming chart and being renewed for a second season within days of the first run of eight episodes landing on the platform. Much of that likely had to do with the striking presence of series lead Alan Ritchson. The former "Smallville" and "Titans" actor fully embodied the role of the eponymous former U.S. Army Major, using his imposing frame and impressive physique to portray Reacher in a way that Tom Cruise never quite managed in the "Jack Reacher" films.

Cruise played the military police officer, who originated in Lee Child's novels, in 2012's "Jack Reacher" and 2016's "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back." But when it came time for a TV show based on the character, the legendary action star was nowhere to be found.

"Reacher" season 1 was all about depicting a book-accurate version of the titular military policeman and the world he inhabits. Originally the creation of author Lee Child, Jack Reacher was played by Tom Cruise in 2012's "Jack Reacher" and 2016's "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back." But fans of the original book series weren't happy when the 5-foot-7 star was originally cast. After all, Child had made very clear in his novels that Reacher had a considerable physique, standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 250 pounds.

Which is part of the reason why, when it came to the Prime Video show, Tom Cruise was not cast as Reacher. In an interview prior to the first season's 2022 debut, showrunner Nick Santora explained how he and the crew had strived to create, "a genuine Jack Reacher experience," and that, "Lee Child is the compass of this television show."

Which turned out to be a wise choice, considering...