Tom too short to be Jack Reacher CRUISE IN TV K.O.
TOM Cruise has been banned from the Jack Reacher TV series – for being too short.
The pint-sized hero, 56, has starred in two films about the secretive ex-Army investigator.
But producers have decided not to choose the 5ft 7in actor because Reacher is described in Lee Child’s books as being 6ft 5in with “hands the size of dinner plates”.
Child, who sealed a deal to make the series for a streaming service, has now asked fans to help him cast a new hero.
He said: “Cruise, for all his talent, didn’t have that physicality. The size of Reacher is really, really important and it’s a big component of who he is.
“The idea is that when Reacher walks into a room, you’re all a little nervous for that first minute. So what I’ve decided to do is there won’t be any more movies with Tom Cruise. Instead we’re going to take it to Netflix or something like that.
“I want all those readers who were upset about Tom Cruise to help me out and participate in choosing the right actor for the TV series.
“We’re rebooting and starting over and we’re going to try to find the perfect guy.”
Child said many readers had complained about the decision to cast Cruise in Jack Reacher in 2012 and the 2016 sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. The first movie earned £167million at the box office but the second scooped only £124m and got mixed reviews.
Cruise is currently filming Top Gun: Maverick, due out in 2020.