These days, it seems like Tom Cruise isn't happy unless he's sprinting, crashing, and punching his way through his movies. While the long-running Mission Impossible series is probably the best-known representation of this facet of Cruise's career, there's also the solid 2012 actioner Jack Reacher, which sees its first sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back , arrive in theaters on October 21. So with a big movie star in the lead and a decent enough following to secure a sequel, what are the odds that there will be a third Jack Reacher movie?
As of right now, it could go either way. The first film, while not a massive blockbuster, did make a tidy profit with a $218 million worldwide gross set against a $60 million budget. The new movie ups the budget to $96 million, but if it does the same type of business at the box office as the original then it should still turn a profit — meaning its studio, Paramount, will likely look at producing a part three. The first two movies are both based on novels by author Lee Child, who created the character of Jack Reacher. So is there a third book in his series from which another movie could potentially draw material?
Finding material for a third film isn't going to be a problem. There are currently a whopping 20 Jack Reacher novels in Child's series, and he's still writing them with another due out in November. By contrast, Ian Fleming only wrote 14 books about James Bond, and that character has gone on to star in 24 movies and counting. So suffice it to say, there is no shortage of material for another Jack Reacher movie. Child even has an idea about what direction a third movie might take, should one end up being produced. Here's what he told People's Darren Franich:
"The Reacher series of books span urban stories, rural stories, badlands stories. The first [movie] was very urban, in Pittsburgh. The second one is urban, in D.C. and New Orleans. What I would love to see is one of the badlands stories: Big empty country, very few buildings. A lonelier feel to it. Fundamentally, Reacher is a Western character."
So if Jack Reacher: Never Go Back does as well at the box office as its predecessor, don't be surprised to see a third movie in the action-packed series. Maybe Jack Reacher Goes West: An American Tale. Just an idea.
Images: Paramount Pictures; Giphy
