‘Blue Mountain State’ Star Alan Ritchson Cast as Jack Reacher in New Series

Tom Cruise previously brought Lee Child’s books to life with Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Now another actor will step into the role in a new TV series. Alan Ritchson, who previously starred in Blue Mountain State, will become Jack Reacher, the former U.S. Army Military Police Corps officer.

According to Variety, the upcoming series will air on Amazon, alongside Jack Ryan. Season 1 of the series will center on Child’s book The Killing Floor. This novel was the first in the long-running Reacher series and will help reintroduce the character to the world through a streaming platform. Nick Santora will serve as the writer and showrunner of Jack Reacher, as well as an executive producer. He previously served in similar roles on The Fugitive TV series and The Most Dangerous Game.

Child, Don Granger, Scott Sullivan and Christopher McQuarrie will also serve as executive producers for the Amazon series. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross will serve as executive producers for Skydance. Carolyn Harris will oversee Jack Reacher for Skydance.

Ritchson is best known for his starring role as Thad Castle on Blue Mountain State. He later returned to the role for a Kickstarter-funded film, Blue Mountain State: Rise of Thadland. He currently stars as Hawk on the DC Comics series Titans.

Jack Reacher is the latest action series based on novels to hit Amazon. Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski in the titular role, has aired two seasons on the streaming service. A third season is in the works, but there is no definite release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with Jack Reacher, Amazon is also adding a Chris Pratt-helmed series to the fold. The Guardians of the Galaxy star will jump into the role of former Navy SEAL James Reece in The Terminal List. Pratt stars and serves as the executive producer while Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) will direct and serve as an executive producer.

The Pratt-led series is based on former Navy SEAL and Special Ops leader Jack Carr’s first book in his ongoing series. Pratt’s character of Reece is the survivor of a high stakes mission in which his entire platoon is ambushed and slaughtered. Reece returns stateside and faces questions from authority figures about his culpability. The character learns that dark forces are working against him and his loved ones, prompting a violent path of vengeance.

While Amazon has a trio of action series based on novels in the works, none have release dates. Jack Ryan will return for a third season while Jack Reacher and The Terminal List will premiere for the first time. The fans just don’t know when this will happen.