‘Jack Reacher 2’ Gets an Official Title and New Cast Members as Filming Begins

This fall production begins on not one, but two highly anticipated action film sequels (both titled after their protagonists): Jack Reacher 2 and John Wick 2. Today brings an update on the former, as director Ed Zwick has formally begun production on Jack Reacher 2, adding a couple of new cast members and giving the sequel an official title.

Paramount announced today that Zwick has begun production on the sequel, now titled Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Tom Cruise is reprising his role as the eponymous badass for the sequel, which reunites him with the director of The Last Samurai. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back was written by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer) and Marshall Herskovitz (The Last Samurai).

While we’re thrilled for the sequel, part of what made Jack Reacher so effective was Christopher McQuarrie’s script — but McQuarrie is known for doing uncredited script revisions, so there’s still a chance that Jack Reacher: Never Go Back will retain some of the dark humor that made the first film so awesome.

Joining Cruise for the sequel are Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh (Heroes Reborn), Austin Hebert (Bonnie and Clyde), Patrick Heusinger (Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce), Aldis Hodge (Straight Outta Compton) and Holt McCallany (Gangster Squad).

As previously reported, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is based on Lee Childs’ 18th book in the Jack Reacher series — also titled Never Go Back — and is officially described as follows:

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 even to think about.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back arrives on October 21, 2016.