Summary
Jack Reacher: Never Go Backhas become a success on Netflix in the United States eight years after its theatrical debut. The 2016 action-thriller sequel starring Tom Cruise is an adaptation of the 2013 Lee Child novelNever Go Back, following Cruise’s title character attempting to uncover a government conspiracy and clear the name of his former Army unit’s leader, Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders). TheJack Reacher: Never Go Backcastalso includes Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh, Holt McCallany, and Jessica Stroup.
Netflixhas now calculated their Top 10 most-watched movies in the United States for the week of July 29 through August 4.Jack Reacher: Never Go Backhas landed on the chart at No. 2, above the new Netflix originalSaving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie. It is also the third-oldest movie on the entire chart, behind a pair of 2015 releases, namelyMinions(No. 7), which is likely trending because of the animated franchise’s current theatrical hitDespicable Me 4, andThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.(No. 8).
Is Jack Reacher: Never Go Back’s Reputation Being Rehabilitated?
The Movie Wasn’t Necessarily Well-Received In 2016
The degree of the movie’s Netflix success may come as a surprise considering its overall reception in 2016. It was not necessarily a financial failure, as it made $162.1 million against its $60 million budget. This was enough to make it the 57th highest-grossing movie of the year and outgross prominent 2016 titles includingDon’t Breathe,The Purge: Election Year,10 Cloverfield Lane, andMy Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. However, this wasa significant drop from 2012’sJack Reacher, which made $218.3 million against the same budget and was the 37th highest-grossing movie of its own year.
The originalJack ReacheroutgrossedSafe House,21 Jump Street,Magic Mike,Paranormal Activity 4,Pitch Perfect, and many more.
The 2016 movie’s Rotten Tomatoes scores alsoshowed a significant decrease in interest on the part of both audiences and criticsafter both groups gave mildly Fresh scores to the first movie. However, even for the better-received original, neither score reached higher than 70% and was thus just a few percentage points over the 60% threshold past which a movie is considered Fresh. Below, see how both the Tom CruiseJack Reachermoviesperformed on the review aggregator platform:
64%
67%
38%
42%
The movie’s contemporary reviews suggest that critics found Tom Cruise to be trying his hardest, butthey did not think the movie rose above being an action clone, paling in comparison to hisMission: Impossiblemovies. At the time, Cruise had just been starting to reinvigorate that franchise with his now well-known penchant for doing his own stunts in major moments such as running down the side of the Burj Khalifa in 2011’sMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocoland holding his breath for six minutes to perform in a flooded tank in 2015’sMission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.
There is a different understanding of what it means to be a Tom Cruise action movie in 2024.
However, the fact that the movie immediately reached No. 2 - above more current acquired titles includingThe Super Mario Bros. Movie,Tarot,Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, andLand of Bad-could show that the movie’s reputation has changed somewhat in the intervening years. This could be because there is a different understanding of what it means to be a Tom Cruise action movie in 2024. Even ifNever Go Backdoesn’t quite live up to the stunt-filledMission: Impossible - FalloutorTop Gun: Maverick, it is possible that audiences are eager to follow more of his legacy characters on their adventures.
Is The Reacher Show Helping The Tom Cruise Movies?
Jack Reacher: Never Go BackWasn’t Necessarily Well-Received In 2016
The fact that the 2016 movie has landed so high on the chart despite its critical and commercial reception coiuld also very well be because of the popularity of the Prime Video showReacher, which is adapted from the same series of Lee Child novels. Instead of Cruise, the show features Alan Ritchson in the title role, and while there is some basic overlap in the premise and character, there are otherwise no links between the two franchises. However, theincreased interest in the source material could boost interest in adaptations across the board.
8 Biggest Changes Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Makes To The Lee Child’s Book
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back made many changes from the original Lee Child book, from character behavior to plot details to major players and more.
Ultimately, given the fact that the show is still running and has already been renewed for the upcoming season 3,it seems unlikely that there will ever be a third movie starring Tom Cruise in the title rolethat follows up on theJack Reacher: Never Go Backending. However, the show and the movies seem to have entered a sort of symbiotic relationship that they did not have before. While the movie franchise remains dormant for the time being, its reputation may continue to be rehabilitated if the 2016 installment’s Netflix popularity translates to an increase in general affection.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Cast
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is the sequel to the 2012 original based on the Novel by Lee Child. Finally trying to meet face to face with his support over the years, Jack heads to Washington to meet Major Susan Turner, only to discover that she has been accused of treason and arrested. Jack quickly deduces that she is being framed - and after helping her escape, the two team up to get to the center of a deadly government conspiracy.
