Jack Reacher author says Christopher McQuarrie won't be back for next movie

Jack Reacher author says Christopher McQuarrie won’t be back for next movie

September 17th 2014, 7:50am

Paramount is moving forward with another JACK REACHER movie, but author Lee Child recently told Empire they'll be doing NEVER GO BACK without director Christopher McQuarrie.

McQuarrie is going to be in post-production on Mission: Impossible 5. He just physically can’t do it. It’s going to be a new backroom crew, which I think is good. I thought the McQuarrie movie was fantastic, but let’s see someone else’s take on it.

Lee Child says he's expecting to see a script for the film “pretty soon," and goes on to explain why the studio decided to base the next movie on Never Go Back, the 18th book from his Jack Reacher series.

It’s almost a three-hander in terms of audience appeal – you’ve got Reacher, you’ve got the woman sidekick (Major Susan Turner), and then you’ve got this strong teenage girl character which they were very interested in.

Here's the book description from Amazon:

Former military cop Jack Reacher makes it all the way from snowbound South Dakota to his destination in northeastern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.: the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. The old stone building is the closest thing to a home he ever had. Reacher is there to meet—in person—the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner, so far just a warm, intriguing voice on the phone. But it isn’t Turner behind the CO’s desk. And Reacher is hit with two pieces of shocking news, one with serious criminal consequences, and one too personal to even think about. When threatened, you can run or fight. Reacher fights, aiming to find Turner and clear his name, barely a step ahead of the army, and the FBI, and the D.C. Metro police, and four unidentified thugs.

Speaking of the Reacher novels, Child also says the title for the next one is Make Me. The 20th book from his series will hit shelves in September of next year.

Christopher McQuarrie not returning for the sequel isn't a huge surprise, but I was hopeful he would be back for NEVER GO BACK. I'm not too bummed though, and it'll be interesting to see which director ends up landing the gig. Who would you like to see direct the next JACK REACHER movie?