Jack Reacher is a delightful throwback to when we got our action-fix without a deluge of CG, and while it didn’t blow up the box office, it managed to do well enough in the long run to get a sequel. Tom Cruise will return as the eponymous drifter, but this time his Last Samurai director Ed Zwick will be at the helm.

Steve was at the recent press day for Zwick’s new film Pawn Sacrifice, and got some updates on Jack Reacher 2. Here’s the video:

Zwick started off by explaining that what makes Jack Reacher unique as a franchise is that the books standalone and that we should expect the same from the movies:

The nice thing about the franchise to me is that it’s almost an anthology. He gets involved in something very different in each of those books with a different cast of character and a different set of circumstances of things that happen to him. I like to think this will satisfy those who really like the character, but they will see him and see this very much as a standalone movie as each of them hopes to be.

For those wondering if Jack Reacher 2 was spurred by the success of Mission: Impossible 5 and Cruise wanting to indulge his other franchise, Zwick assures us that it’s because the first Jack Reacher was able to succeed in the long run and they were already gearing up for production:

The movie performed, but not as well as they hoped, but they found in ancillary markets it performed and just kept on buying it and streaming it and it sort of went through the roof. It had a bit of a long tail. So they were already in the process of—I’d already begun work on this, writing the draft, long before [Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation] came out.

As for the plot of Jack Reacher 2, we know that the plot will be based on the 18th novel in the series, Never Go Back, which has Reacher returning to Washington D.C. to meet up with an old flame only to discover that she’s been arrested, and he must discover what’s going on. Zwick, who also read other Reacher novels to get a sense of the character, says his movie will stick to Never Go Back, but will also make some departure as well.

However, it will keep the same realistic approach as the first movie. Zwick explains:

It’s going to be very grounded. The emotions are grounded. The action is grounded. Mission: Impossible 5 is an extraordinary accomplishment of a very particular kind, and I think we would be foolish to try and replicate it for a different genre, so this is going to be itself.

He also revealed that while there won’t be a stunt as “grand and operatic as hanging from a plan,” Zwick hinted at “something in this in particular” that should wow audiences.

Finally, he confirmed that they’ll be shooting in New Orleans in October, and they’ll also be shooting on film.