During an interview with Empire, Lee Child let it be known that his action hero Jack Reacher was going to get a second film. Tom Cruise, who played Reacher in the first film, will return but director Christopher McQuarrie will not and Child explained why.

"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."

Child said that the sequel will focus on the 18th novel in the franchise, Never Go Back. Where the series has a lot of stories that could work as a film, this one had the additional plot point of Reacher being teamed with a young teenage girl who may be his daughter which appealed to the studio.

"It was a thing that convinced them about which book to make for the next movie. 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."

For fans of the Jack Reacher series, Child is at work on the 20th novel which will have the title, Make Me.