Jack Reacher: Never Go Back director to blame for movie's failure, not Tom Cruise

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back director Edward Zwick insists he is to blame for the movie's lack of critical and commercial success.

In 2012, the first Jack Reacher was released and earned $218 million at the box office, though there was already controversy surrounding the project due to Tom Cruise playing the title character despite him being 6ft 3in in the popular novel series.

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Regular Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie helmed that one, but he was replaced by Edward Zwick for Never Go Back.

The official premise for number 2 reads:

'Jack Reacher tries to free his closest friend, Major Susan Turner, who is accused of espionage and is arrested. In this attempt, he realises that they both are entrapped in a much bigger conspiracy.'

It starred Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Patrick Heusinger, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh, Holt McCallany, and Robert Knepper.

It was not as well-received as the first movie and was a box office disappointment, earning around $50m less than its predecessor.

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And, to be fair to Zwick, he has taken full responsibility.

‘Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,’ which Tom Cruise and I made in 2016, fizzled at the box office," the director writes in his new book, 'Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood'.

"I blame myself (and my willing accomplice, Don Granger) for thinking the audience might enjoy a mash-up of ‘Jack Reacher’ and ‘Paper Moon,’ when in fact they just wanted more red meat. I had a wonderful time working with Cobie Smulders, and I certainly don’t blame Tom for not being six-two - as the novelist Lee Child described his protagonist — and should Tom happen to call about making a third movie together, I’ll definitely pick up."

Jack Reacher should be imposing

In the new Reacher television series, the character is played by the towering presence that is Alan Ritchson, who matches the description outlined by Child in the novels.

"Reacher has got to scare people and you can do that so much easier with one glance of this huge animal rather than a normal-sized actor," Child previously told Metro.