As Reacher season two arrives on Prime Video, author Lee Child has told RTÉ Entertainment that fans of his iconic hero should not expect to see him back on the big screen in the future.
Before Reacher's success on streaming, Tom Cruise previously portrayed Jack Reacher in 2012's eponymous movie and 2016's Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.
Breakout star Alan Ritchson has since taken on the role for the Prime Video series and made the character his own.
When RTÉ Entertainment asked Child if the success of his collaboration with Prime Video, and the fact that the streamer also makes films, could lead to a Ritchson-starring Reacher movie at some point, the author and series executive producer smiled.
"It's a great question, that. The difference is the running time.
"A movie is about 90 minutes' worth of story. The streaming season is about eight hours of story. It's such a luxury, that time, to include everything, all the light and the shade.
"And so my guess is probably not.
"I think every novelist's instinctive preference from now on, now that the medium has been invented, is to always go with long-form television, simply because of that luxury. You've got time.
"And the point is that with the modern streaming technology, you don't have to wait one episode per week like in the old days when I was a kid. You can do it all in one go - exactly like you can read a book all in one go.
"I get letters from people complaining they were late to work because they were up all night reading the book and I think, 'Great! That's a success, therefore!'
"And the same thing happens with TV that, if you want to, you can spin it out over several weeks if you prefer it that way or you can consume it all in one go. And with season one, I know there were plenty of people that did eight hours all in one go because it's so hypnotic!"
Following the success of Reacher season one, which was based on Child's first Reacher book, Killing Floor, season two is based on Bad Luck and Trouble, the 11th book in the Reacher series.
It finds Jack Reacher and his former military comrades investigating the murders of friends from their old unit.
The eight-episode season premieres with three episodes on Prime Video on Friday 15 December, and new episodes will follow every Friday until 19 January 2024.
The new Reacher book, The Secret, is out now, published by Bantam Press.
