Tom Cruise is one of the world’s biggest movie stars, and he’s demonstrating that right now on Netflix. The actor has not one, but two movies dominating the top ten charts on the streamer at the moment. What’s more, both movies are from the same franchise. No, it’s not “Mission: Impossible.” Rather, it’s Cruise’s turn as Jack Reacher that’s getting a second look on Netflix, with his two films playing the Lee Childs character both being streamed by millions of viewers as we speak.
As of this writing, 2012’s “Jack Reacher” and 2016’s “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” are both firmly in the list of the top ten most-streamed movies on Netflix, sitting at the number seven and five spots, respectively. It’s fascinating, given that Cruise has since been replaced as the character by Alan Ritchson in Prime Video’s “Reacher” TV show. Has the popularity of that show helped fuel interest in the franchise in general? Or is this just a situation where Cruise’s popularity extends even to movies that probably rank in the middle of the pack relative to his overall filmography?
Beyond that, it’s interesting that “Never Go Back” is trending above the first film in the franchise since the sequel was not as well received critically or commercially as its predecessor, with “Never Go Back” director Ed Zwick personally taking a percentage of the blame for its perceived shortcomings. It’s entirely possible that audiences who missed the sequel are now taking the opportunity to get caught up with something that passed them by several years ago. In any event, it’s further proof that Cruise remains one of the most bankable stars we have.
Tom Cruise’s star power extends to Netflix as well
There are very few actual butts-in-seats movie stars left in the world. Cruise, however, has proved time and time again that he can motivate the masses to turn up for one of his films. Not only as Ethan Hunt in the “Mission” films, but let’s not forget that “Top Gun: Maverick” now ranks as one of the biggest box office hits in history. That’s a credit to Cruise, who believes very strongly in releasing these movies on the big screen before they ever make it to streaming.
We see all the time that movies released in theaters tend to perform better on streaming after the fact, even if they weren’t hits at the box office. Case in point, “Never Go Back” made $162 million worldwide against a $60 million budget, far less than its predecessor. Yet, here we are, with the film standing tall above nearly everything else on Netflix right now. It’s the same thing that allows movies like the sci-fi flop “Reminiscence” to thrive on streaming even though they didn’t perform well in theaters. The big screen release helps give the movie an edge when it comes to enduring in the public consciousness.
It also certainly doesn’t hurt that the “Reacher” TV show has provided a big boost to the franchise in recent years. Audiences are currently waiting for “Reacher” season 3 on Prime Video, and that’s opened the door for Cruise to get a little bit of a second life as the character — at least in terms of Netflix views.
“Jack Reacher” and “Jack Reacher: Never Got Back” are both streaming on Netflix now.