While speaking at the Goldman Sachs Annual Communacopia Conference, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman told investors that he's "hoping to create a new franchise" from the upcoming Jack Reacher movie at Paramount. The proposed sequels would be adapted from the novels written by Jim Grant aka Lee Child.
Deadline reports that "it goes to the heart of a strategy" that Dauman believes will lead to "a good year" for Paramount. "We reduced the number of releases to about 15 a year and focused on existing franchises, developing new franchises and developing our brands," Dauman said.
Dauman went on to layout Paramount's assets which include a rebooted Jack Ryan franchise, new versions of Transformers and a planned film built around the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Jack Reacher stars Tom Cruise in the title role and isn't due into theaters until December 21. While forward-thinking franchise development is certainly nothing new, it will be interesting to see if movie fans buy into Cruise in the Reacher role.
Early fan sentiment have written off Cruise simply based on his height not measuring up to the dimensions described in Child's novels. You can check out an early trailer that was released a couple months and decide for yourself.
Would you be interested in seeing the development of a Jack Ryan series? Do you buy Tom Cruise in the title role?
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