It is not unreasonable to think that Tom Cruise was looking for a new film franchise when he signed on to Jack Reacher. The project was based on a series of popular thriller novels from writer Lee Child and had the potential to reach out to the same audience as the James Bond and Tom Clancy-penned Jack Ryan franchises.
Unfortunately, it is looking as if that plan might not be working out. The Hollywood Reporter has taken a look at the box office receipts for Jack Reacher and in its three weeks of release, it is looking as if the film will won’t quite hit the $250 million box office that studio Paramount has set as the benchmark to trigger a follow up film. Currently, the film has only earned $72.6 million domestically and $80.4 million internationally, for a total of $153 million. With the film not expected to get past $85 million domestically, the film would need to clear $165 million internationally to meet Paramount’s goal.
The film has yet to open in certain key Asian territories including Japan, China and Korea. But can the film basically double its current foreign box office take in these three countries? The Reporter points out that it is possible, but it will be an uphill fight. When the film opens in China on February 16, it will be competing against two other Chinese films that are opening over the Chinese New Year holidays and will only have a week before Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on the 22nd. In Japan, box office is driven more by women ticket buyers who prefer more romantic fare rather than an action film like Jack Reacher.
But if the film does hit the magic number that Paramount is hoping for, the studio and the film’s production producers Skydance will still have to negotiate a deal with Cruise to keep any sequel at the approximately $60 million budget that the current film has.
And if that $250 million goal is reached and all involved agree to move forward with a new film, there are 16 of Child’s novels waiting for adaption, providing plenty of fertile material for many sequels to come.
