True, it's hard to find an exact match, but I think of Reacher as being over 6 foot, built like a football player, AND light brown, or sandy, blonde hair. Tom Cruise doesn't come close to any of that.
Also, from the trailers I've been seeing on TV, I suspect they aren't keeping to the reason he winds up doing what he does with each story, but I could be wrong, as trailers are only quick action shots, and don't ever include "story" shots, so it will be interesting to see.
That's why I said Chris Hemsworth: he comes close lookwise; has the height, the hair color, may need to gain some muscle.
Tom Cruise certainly doesn't have the look of Reacher, but the author Lee Child is happy with Cruise as Reacher. Cruise has the presence for Reacher.
Hugh Jackman was actually considered for that role before Cruise was casted. Same for Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn, Jamie Foxx and Will Smith. if I look at this list, sorry if they couldn't get Jackman then Cruise is indeed the better choice. I can't see Pitt in that role and the other 3, especially Foxx and Smith, would be a major miscast.
Like I said, watched the movie first and then got to the books; going by release date, so
Sniper on which the first film is loosely based, is still in my future.
As for Certain Prey, I started reading Sanford's books because of Certain Prey, but I mean the book, not the TV movie. I purposely picked up the book and read it before the TV movie aired, and I'm glad I did, because I didn't like the TV movie. At. All. Maybe if they had found another actor to star in it, and made it a full-length movie for the theaters, but as a 2 part TV movie, it failed.
I think Mark Harmon was the executive director, so that's why he wound up starring in it. I thought they dumbed it down, and a lot of the narrative in the book that explains the characters is always left out, so one line in the movie should've been cut as well, because anyone who hadn't read the book, would've wondered why it was said. They also showed scenes in the wrong order, and that really ticked me off. Only good thing is, I became a Sanford fan, and went back to the beginning, and read all the books in the series. I may still have maybe 1 or 2 to catch up on. Sanford also has another series I like reading as well, though it's related to the Davenport series, as some of the characters are in both.
I had no high expectations of a tv movie, b/c they already screwed up with Mind Prey where Eriq LaSalle played Davenport. That was a big failure; main character changed race - total no-go! Too many details in there were wrong.
Now Certain Prey: let's see - the movie was shot in 20 days during Mark's summer NCIS hiatus and also his vacation/family time. So they were on a pretty tight schedule. Mark is one of the execs, b/c he's also a fan of the books and read them.
The book itself is actually a good start, since #13 Mortal Prey continues the Rinker story (and I would love to get that sequel again with Mark; actually w/o NCIS I could see him doing 2 - 4 of them a year similar to Tom Sellecks Jesse Stone, based on Robert B. Parker's book series.)
I already said, Mark is lookwise not exactly a match; maybe if it were one of the later books were Lucas is older, it would be a better fit. So what's important about Lucas: he's white, tall, blue eyes, womanizer, intelligent, very rich, a bit violent (especially in younger years), former gamer, always in law enforcement. They even have given Mark the face scar.
What annoyed me: the reducing of -at that time in the books timeline- supporting friends/colleagues like Sloan into nothingness. The Marcy Sherrill character was badly cast, so was Carmel. Blame USA Network and their choice in casting directors.
Even with scenes in the wrong order, one could follow the storyline - besides you wouldn't know if you haven't read the book.
All in all, comparing both movies, Certain Prey got a lot more right than wrong. But there's also room for improvement, mainly make it a two parter and get the supporting cast right or as close to as possible. I have faith in Mark's acting skills to pull off Lucas.
The author, Sandford, had no say in anything as the rights were sold long before.
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I really love the Prey Series and have them as real books although in 2 languages while the ebooks are all in English. I guess you're talking about that damn Flowers. He's one of the new supporting friends/colleagues and has gotten his own series some years ago. I admit I've only read two of the books as I don't find him that entertaining compared to Lucas. But I have the whole Flowers series as ebooks as well as the whole Kidd series who sometimes appears along Davenport when it comes to hacking. In one of the books in the twenties, there's a big story where he's featured alongside his wife.
Prey is usually my first summer read each year. I've also re-read some of them last year. I loved Buried Prey where we got flashbacks on a very young Lucas and his first days as detective plus that he solved that case years later. Already exited for US Marshal Davenport in Golden Prey.
