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Jack Reacher

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Jack Reacher is an above-average crime thriller with a smoothly charismatic performance from Tom Cruise.

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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

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Jack Ryan vs. Jack Reacher: Who Wins?

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The Big Picture

• Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan are both beloved literary characters who have undergone successful adaptations in film and television.
• Neither character is a superhero and their relatability stems from their mortality and faith in others.
• Due to his hulking physique, Reacher would likely beat Ryan in a physical showdown, but due to their morality, it's unlikely that the two would ever come to blows.

Even if a casual reader might have a hard time differentiating them, Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan couldn’t be more different as characters . Reacher is an ex-military police officer who has grown cynical through his experience, and begins working outside official institutions to maintain justice. Ryan is more of an analyst than an action hero and works within the government itself to find peaceful solutions to potentially volatile situations. Although Reacher is the more action-weary veteran and Ryan is less of a field agent, they’ve both had their fair share of close encounters with death throughout their multiple adventures in novels, films, and television adaptations. With the popular Reacher series starring Alan Ritchson giving us yet another imagining of one of the iconic characters, let's settle once and for all: Who would win in a fight between Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan?

When retired Military Police Officer Jack Reacher is arrested for a murder he did not commit, he finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy full of dirty cops, shady businessmen and scheming politicians. With nothing but his wits, he must figure out what is happening in Margrave, Georgia. The first season of Reacher is based on the international bestseller The Killing Floor by Lee Child.

Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher Aren't Superheroes

There’s a reason audiences keep coming back to these characters time and time again; while they both possess extraordinary skills, neither Reacher nor Ryan is a superhero. Their strength and faith in others aren't derived from any superhuman abilities , and they’re often more relatable than other “action heroes” who don’t deal with the same existential issues. Both characters were created by former servicemen who used their novels to tackle recent political issues. Lee Child was a former military police officer who used the first Reacher novel, Killing Floor , to address the aftermath of the Gulf War, and Tom Clancy was briefly in the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps before exploring the aftermath of the Cold War in the Jack Ryan novel, The Hunt For Red October . Both franchises have expanded far beyond their original creator’s vision to incorporate spinoffs and adaptations.

In 2022, Prime Video's new take on Reacher proved to be more successful than the films starring Tom Cruise . Its success and quick renewal sparked comparisons to another hit show from the network: Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan . Although Ryan’s story has been the subject of many film adaptations, the John Krasinski -led series offered a fresh take on the character that reintroduced him into the modern era. Following Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan conclusion in 2023, it's interesting to look at how these two literary icons have fared against each other over the years.

Jack Ryan Was Introduced in Tom Clancy's 'The Hunt for Red October'

Clancy’s 1984 novel The Hunt For Red October was an instant critical hit and topped the New York Times Bestsellers List. While it seemed like there was finally an American hero who could rival James Bond, Ryan is more of a low-level idealist than a slick charmer. The novel was noted for its conservative themes, and how its balanced political perspective promoted the “American dream” without idealizing the military-industrial complex. It inspired 20 additional novels by Clancy, Mark Greaney, Mike Maden , and Marc Cameron , and has also inspired spinoffs focusing on the characters John Clark and Jack Ryan Jr.

Both Reacher and Ryan Are Independent and Intelligent

By comparison, Reacher is a much more recent phenomenon. While Killing Floor was acclaimed for its detailed analysis of PTSD and military ethics, Child’s series only grew in popularity over the next few decades. Child has remained the exclusive author behind the ongoing series, with the 29th installment, In Too Deep , set for an October 2024 release. Like Clancy, Child’s balance of mystery and political intrigue has been praised for tackling current issues without limiting the genre-focus of the narratives.

Both Ryan and Reacher are fiercely independent . Ryan often struggles to have his voice heard amidst bureaucracy, and Reacher’s experience has made him cagey about trusting others. While both men have respect for those that they’ve served alongside, they are hardly the type of men who would follow blind orders. Ryan may humbly claim that he’s simply an analyst, but certain adventures have thrown him into the midst of action, and in the later novels, he was even elected President of the United States. Reacher might seem like he’s all muscle, but his investigative skills make him a detective that’s not to be trifled with.

Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher Have Had Many Different Film and Television Adaptations

Given that it's a few generations older than Jack Reacher , the Jack Ryan film franchise has gone through many different interpretation s . Film is often an appropriate medium to adapt specific Clancy stories, but given the standalone qualities of the novels, it’s never become a “blockbuster series” that rivals James Bond , Jason Bourne , or Mission: Impossible . 1989’s The Hunt For Red October is simply an all-time classic of the submarine genre , but while Alec Baldwin ’s interpretation of Ryan added a dash of humility to the CIA’s smartest man, he’s really a supporting character amidst an incredible ensemble that includes Sean Connery, Tim Curry, Stellan Skarsgård, James Earl Jones, Scott Glenn, and Sam Neill .

The series evolved into more of a 1990s action franchise when Harrison Ford inhabited the role for Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger ; while they both had an element of mystery, Ford’s battle-weary interpretation of the role was very different from Baldwin’s youthful geekiness. Unfortunately, Ben Affleck failed to inject life into the series in the 2002 reboot, The Sum of All Fears , which attempted to “modernize” the character by turning him into a womanizing, quippy action hero. While Chris Pine did a much better job in the sorely underrated Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit , the film’s meager box-office performance prevented him from appearing in any additional sequels.

The 'Terminator' Easter Egg You Might've Missed in 'Reacher' Season 2

The Terminator callback isn't the first time this actor has riffed on his own history with the franchise.

Longtime fans of Child’s novels were skeptical when Tom Cruise was cast in the 2012 film Jack Reacher , which was an adaptation of the novel One Shot . Reacher is known for his physicality, and Cruise isn’t quite 6 feet tall . However, Jack Reacher was a much darker action film than Cruise’s recent projects and marked his first collaboration with director Christopher McQuarrie before he took over the Mission: Impossible series. Unfortunately, Edward Zwick failed to capitalize on this unique series with the 2016 sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back , which fell into action movie clichés and didn’t capture Child’s nuanced subversiveness.

Both Ryan and Reacher have fared much better on television ; instead of condensing complex mysteries into a two-hour film, the shows have been able to flesh out their backstories and explore the supporting characters within their universes. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan found an interesting way to update the character for the era of drone strikes, whistleblowers, and extremist groups, with rumors of a potential spinoff for Michael Peña 's character, Domingo “Ding” Chavez . Reacher , on the other hand, reached critical acclaim upon its debut in 2022 and quickly earned a renewal. Given that it's more of a direct adaptation of Child’s first novel, the series retains the pulpy, action-heavy slant without sacrificing the character’s intelligence.

Alan Ritchson's Jack Reacher Would Beat Jack Ryan In a Fight

When it comes to a brawl, Reacher’s hulking physique would probably crush poor Ryan . Ford’s version of the character might be able to give Cruise’s Reacher a good fight, but there’s no way that Baldwin’s Ryan could last a few minutes with Alan Ritchson ’s Reacher . However, it seems unlikely that these two characters would ever come to blows —they’re both intelligent men who look for justice where they can find it, and they fear putting innocent lives in danger.

All in all, it's interesting to note how both characters have evolved over the years. Calling the Jack Ryan franchise “better” seems unfair, as it has simply had more time to adopt new voices and explore the character’s depth. It’s safe to say that the Jack Reacher series will do the same thing in the next few decades. Fans of both franchises can rest assured that these characters are now in their prime again, and they both have many exciting adventures in the near future.

Reacher is available to stream on Prime in the U.S.

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Everything We Know About Jack Reacher 3

I have often wondered what adapting an action novel for the screen would be like, there being a markedly different approach to even the literary form and the screenplay written for adapting the matter to film. The answer is to be sought from the Jack Reacher s, Jack Ryans, James Bonds , and the Jason Bournes of the world, each of them having headed immensely popular franchises. For that matter, Cruise has given himself to the action genre unflinchingly like dye to the wool, what with him performing his own stunts at his age being an unprecedented feat of sorts. While he virtually owns the ‘ Mission Impossible ’ franchise in his role of MI6 secret agent Ethan Hunt, still going strong after its sixth instalment made all the right noises in the right places for the right reasons, another one of his action franchises has visibly struggled with taking off and finding a sort of unanimous acceptance among fans — Jack Reacher.

‘ Jack Reacher ’, the fictional brainchild of British author Lee Child and a bonafide badass, joining the long list of ex-marine vigilante arse kickers from the pens of a number of authors, has had two film adaptations to date, remarkably less than any one of the other action heroes mentioned above despite there being a wealth of literature devoted to him (23 books), both starring Tom Cruise in the titular role and serving as standalone stories dictating the character’s exploits following his origins.

The first one finds its allegiance in the 2005 Child novel ‘One Shot’ while the second’s in its title, ‘Never Go Back’. Both films had a decent worldwide gross but ended up under-performing in the home circuit, while struggling critically as well; and the internet would state that they weren’t adored by fans of Reacher or Cruise much either. In these circumstances, while a sequel would seem highly unlikely given the unfavourable reception, we decode all the news we have regarding what could come of the third film and whether it would be happening or not. Read on.

Is Jack Reacher 3 happening?

According to latest reports, Lee Child has signed a deal with the television divisions of both Paramount and Skydance, the distributors and producers of both of Cruise’s popular franchises ‘Jack Reacher’ and ‘ Mission Impossible ’, to produce a television series based on the character. While not much about it isn’t known either, it is pretty clear that the makers wish to take the ‘ Jack Ryan ’ route when none of their films worked either. The TV series starring John Krasinski ended up being a hit last year with both fans and critics, and it is not difficult to see why the makers too would tip in the favour of telling Reacher’s standalone stories as an anthology series or in an episodic nature. More so, the stability of Netflix and other streaming and television mediums have often proven antidotes to dwindling returns on the films, so this is not going to be a first.

As for the plot, one cannot be too certain since while only two of the novels have yet been adapted for the screen, we still have 21 more to go. Expect an intermixing of sorts, since the novels are not a tall order to be adapted across an entire season, unlike ‘ Game of Thrones ’, say. The plot details cannot be told for certain as of now, since there is no official word on how the makers wish to take this and approach the television series, but the long and short of it is that a third film in the continued franchise won’t be happening after ‘ Never Go Back ’. This might mean bad news for fans of the franchise, but unfortunately so, that’s the way the cookie crumbles in Hollywood.

Tom Cruise’s Exit: Who can be the next Jack Reacher?

Yes, you read that right. With the news of no new films happening in the ‘Jack Reacher’ franchise, also comes the news that Tom Cruise won’t be reprising his role in any capacity. Instead, for television, the makers, including Lee Child, would be going the way of the novels and would be searching for an actor that would fit the physical description of him as laid out in the books. The principal cause of dissatisfaction here, as pointed out by some fans too, would be Tom Cruise’s height at 5 feet 7 inches, and his physicality. Reacher in the books is described as a formidable man, measuring up at 6 feet 5 inches, blonde and weighing in at 250 pounds.

According to Lee Childs, Reacher’s size and heftiness in the books was a metaphor for an “unstoppable force”, which Cruise portrayed “in his own way.” Furthermore, this is what he had to say about Cruise being dropped for the sequel and why it was important for them to get the casting right: “I really enjoyed working with Cruise. He’s a really, really nice guy. We had a lot of fun. But ultimately the readers are right. 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 just for that first minute. And Cruise, for all his talent, didn’t have that physicality. 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. Long-form streaming television, with a completely new actor. We’re rebooting and starting over and we’re going to try and find the perfect guy.”

It is quite clear that while the makers hold a lot of respect for Cruise and what he did in the two films in which he portrayed the eponymous character, they will be moving on to a new actor, thus meaning Cruise’s retirement from the role. Reports state that Childs wants to involve a number of fans that were dissatisfied with Cruise’s casting to seek suggestions for the new casting to get the new actor, his looks and his physicality absolutely right.

Jack Reacher 3 Crew: Who can be behind it?

Since a third movie most definitely would not be happening, that question is out of the window. As for the rebooted TV series, nothing apart from the announcement that it would be happening is known, so we will have to wait a fair bit to know more about that. That too rules out the possibility of the return of either Christopher McQuarrie, who has now had a successful run with Cruise directing two films in the MI franchise, and Edward Zwick, the director of the two Jack Reacher films. The only confirmation on this as of now is that Lee Childs will be directly involved in the production process of the TV show, as opposed to only his partial involvement in the films, having signed a deal with Skydance TV and Paramount TV, and perhaps also serve in the capacity of a screenwriter or a story consultant. We will, as always, update this section as soon as we receive any news regarding the TV series, so be sure to check back.

Jack Reacher 3 Release Date: When can it premiere?

I just want to make sure that we are talking about the TV series here, because as I have established in the sections before this, a third ‘Jack Reacher’ film won’t be happening. The unfortunate thing is that the release date of the Jack Reacher TV series  isn’t currently known either, but we can safely assume that it would soon be on the writing boards, now that it has been announced with much fervour. From the looks of it, it would also seem that the project would head over to Netflix. Expect the pilot to air any time beyond early 2021, assuming enough time for casting, locations and the script to be finalised before it finally goes on board.

Read More: Upcoming Tom Cruise Movies

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Ranking all the (very) different jack ryan movies.

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Alien: Romulus Avoids A 22-Year-Old Franchise Mistake With New Xenomorph Reveal

New maze runner movie is guaranteed to break a major franchise box office milestone, jason statham's $7.3 billion franchise role proves how much he needs to revive his 21-year-old hit.

The Jack Ryan movie franchise has ran for 28 years and counting. Based (mostly) on the best-selling series of military techno-thrillers by the late Tom Clancy , five films have been made about the heroic CIA analyst, with four different actors portraying Ryan (two of which were failed attempts to reboot the series). Together, the five films total have grossed $923-million worldwide. With Amazon Prime launching Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan as a new TV series starring John Krasinski , the fifth actor to portray the titular hero, let's look back at the collection of very different Jack Ryan movies.

Regardless of which actor stepped into the role, the overall portrayal of Jack Ryan throughout the films has been mostly consistent. Ryan is a former Marine turned CIA analyst, who is also a history teacher, author, and professor at the United States Naval Academy. His wife Cathy (Muller) Ryan, a surgeon, also figures prominently in most of the films. Because of his geopolitical expertise and his unerring sense of right and wrong, Ryan is regularly drawn into crises that threaten the United States. The films began during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, but as times changed, Ryan's adventures spanned conflict with the Irish Republican Army, the war on drugs coming from South America, and post-9/11 terrorism.

Watch: Amazon's Jack Ryan Trailer Confirms John Krasinski’s Status As An Action Hero

The Ryan films, however, are inconsistent in tone and quality, which makes them a challenge to rank. The first three films in the series are the easiest to follow as they more or less function as a continuing narrative. When director John McTiernan and Alec Baldwin left after Red October , Harrison Ford took over as Jack Ryan in Phillip Noyce's Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger , which fit as the same character Baldwin played. After creative issues stalled the franchise in the late 1990s, the decision was made to reboot the films with a younger Jack Ryan played by Ben Affleck in 2002's The Sum of All Fears . Despite Sum 's financial success, the franchise ground to a halt until it was rebooted a second time in 2014, with Chris Pine assuming the role in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit . If all of this sounds confusing, that's because it is.

5. The Sum Of All Fears

The Sum of All Fears was the first post-9/11 Jack Ryan film and deals with a Neo-Nazi terrorist setting off a nuclear weapon in Baltimore, Maryland in order to start a war between Russia and the United States. It was released in the summer of 2002, just months after 9/11, and the subject matter of a nuke detonated on American soil can make the viewer queasy, even watching it years later. In the film, Ryan is the only person to realize that the nuclear bomb wasn't Russian, but a framing attempt. The CIA analyst then races against time to get this vital information to the President of the United States, played by James Cromwell, before an all-out war is launched and the Neo-Nazi can fulfill his true scheme, to establish a fascist European state.

Despite a stellar cast, including Morgan Freeman as CIA Director William Cabot, Bridget Moynahan as Cathy Muller, Liev Schreiber, Colm Feore, Ciarán Hinds, Phillip Baker Hall, and Bruce McGill, the plot is convoluted and difficult to follow. Tom Clancy was disgruntled with the many changes made to his novel; in the DVD commentary he introduced himself as "the author of the book that [the director] ignored." At this point in his career, Affleck, who was a controversial pick (just as he would be when Ben was cast as Batman a decade later), simply lacked the gravitas to be convincing as Ryan, even though the character was meant to be younger and brash. Ryan's love story with Cathy also hit awkward rom-com notes ill-fitting with the deadly serious subject matter of the main plot.

4. Patriot Games

1992's Patriot Games began the highly successful two-film run of Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan with Phillip Noyce in the director's chair. Ford was coming off the end of the Indiana Jones trilogy and embraced Jack Ryan as his new franchise. While visiting London with his wife Cathy (Anne Archer) and young daughter Sally (Thora Birch), Ryan prevents an IRA assassination attempt on a member of the British Royal family. In the process, he kills the younger brother of one of the terrorists, Sean Miller ( Sean Bean ), who vows revenge and follows Ryan and his family back to the United States. For his part, Ryan has retired from the CIA, but after Miller tries to murder his Cathy and Sally, Ryan returns to the Agency to stop Miller and the IRA splinter group he's part of from forming their own private army.

Tom Clancy's novel was actually a prequel to The Hunt For Red October , but the film takes place after the events of the first film. Clancy was so unhappy with the changes the screenplay made, he asked to have his name taken off the film. After the cerebral techno-thriller that was Red October, Patriot Games is a more straightforward action film. Taking full advantage of Ford's status as an action hero, Ryan finds himself constantly involved in bloody fistfights and shootouts. Clancy found the conclusion of the film - a memorable all-out assault on Ryan's home that ends with a boat chase and violent brawl between Miller and Ryan - particularly "unrealistic" . And he's not totally wrong. Despite a great cast including James Earl Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Bergin, and Polly Walker, Patriot Games has a muddled political story that never gels with the personal grudge between Sean Miller and Jack Ryan.

Page 2 of 2: The Top 3 Jack Ryan Films

3. jack ryan: shadow recruit.

Essentially "Jack Ryan Begins", 2014's Shadow Recruit depicted his origin story that was only hinted at in the prior films. The new Jack portrayed by Chris Pine was rebooted as a student at the London School of Economics during 9/11. He joins the Marines out of a sense of patriotism and survives a helicopter crash that places him in traction. His doctor during rehab is his future wife Cathy, played by Keira Knightley, who suspects he's hiding an affair from him a decade later when they are living together in NYC. In truth, Ryan only poses as a Wall Street broker when he's actually a CIA analyst recruited by Thomas Harper, played by Kevin Costner. Ryan discovers and foils a Russian plot to cause the United States economy to financially collapse while also preventing a terrorist attack on Wall Street.

Kenneth Branagh both directed and starred as the villainous Viktor Cherevin. The first Jack Ryan film not to be based on a Tom Clancy novel, Shadow Recruit was a conscious effort to turn Jack in a post-Jason Bourne action hero - and it mostly succeeds. The film presents the most breakneck, frenetic action of the franchise. Knightley's Cathy Muller is also directly plunged into the action alongside Jack; her scenes verbally dueling with Branagh are among the best in the film. Despite Pine's all-in performance as Ryan, audiences weren't enamored with the reboot. Shadow Recruit ended up as the lowest-grossing Jack Ryan film and didn't spawn sequels . However, Ryan's adventures in Moscow were both glamorous and deadly, the action scenes are top-notch, and Branagh's Russian villain is one of the best of the franchise.

Related: Star Trek Producer Thinks Star Trek 4 'Can Work' Without Chris Pine's Kirk

2. clear and present danger.

Harrison Ford and director Phillip Noyce's second and final Jack Ryan film, Clear And Present Danger finds Ryan promoted to Acting CIA Deputy Director - Intelligence. Uncomfortable when forced to play the politician, Jack navigates a complex web of lies by members of the White House cabinet, who are conducting a covert war with Columbian drug cartels while setting Ryan up as the fall guy. Jack is driven to clear his name and expose the conspirators, up to and including the complicit President of the United States. As in Patriot Games , the film's still-relevant politics and spycraft are built around several blisteringly violent action scenes where Ryan travels to Columbia, dodges explosions and gunfire, and gets into a fistfight with the villain, Col. Félix Cortez (Joaquim de Almeida), who is described in the film as " a Latin Jack Ryan ".

Once more, Tom Clancy was less than pleased with the changes made to his novel, but the film succeeds despite its issues with pacing and an overreliance on plunging Ford into action scenes. Clear And Present Danger stuffs a great deal of plot into its 141 minute running time, but at its center is Ford at his most resolute; his Ryan is a pure-hearted Boy Scout who knows right from wrong and he memorably tells off the President in the Oval Office. Willem Dafoe portrays John Clark, a CIA operative who was a regular character in Clancy's novels but it kills off James Earl Jones' Admiral James Greer, Ryan's mentor in the CIA. Clear And Present Danger also contains callbacks to Patriot Games and The Hunt For Red October , nicely tying together the first three films to make it all feel like a complete trilogy.

1. The Hunt For Red October

In 1990's The Hunt For Red October, Alec Baldwin's Jack Ryan shares center stage with Sean Connery , who plays Captain Marko Ramius, the skipper of the titular Russian nuclear submarine. Ramius steals the Soviet Union's most advanced sub, which is built with a silent propulsion system that makes it invisible to sonar. As the US braces for a possible nuclear attack, Ryan is recruited by the CIA as a consultant and figures out Ramius' true motive: he plans to defect and turn the Red October over to America. The film becomes a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game as Ryan attempts to convince the US Navy to aid Ramius before the Russian Navy can sink their defector.

A nail-biting techno-thriller set in 1984 in the waning years of the Cold War, Red October was directed by John McTiernan, who also helmed Predator and Die Hard . Baldwin's Ryan tends to be overshadowed by Connery's star-power (despite his amusingly suspect Russian accent), but the two leads make an excellent on-screen duo when their characters finally meet on board Ramius' sub. The stellar cast includes Sam Neill, Tim Curry, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, Courtney B. Vance, and Stellan Skarsgård. (Cathy Ryan only briefly appears at the beginning, played by Gates McFadden from Star Trek: The Next Generation .) The purest cinematic adaptation of a Tom Clancy novel that is very different from its sequels, Red October 's suspenseful Cold War intrigue still holds up today and it easily ranks as the best of the Jack Ryan films.

Next: Watch Amazon's Jack Ryan TV Series Trailer

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan streams on Friday, August 31, 2018 on Amazon Prime.

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REVIEW: ‘Reacher’ is better this time around, even without Tom Cruise

Boyce Rucker , Staff Writer February 6, 2022

“Reacher,” Amazon Prime Video’s latest TV series is based on the long-running Jack Reacher novel series by British author Lee Child. “Reacher” is not the first live-action adaptation of the character, as Tom Cruise previously starred as him in the films “Jack Reacher” and “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.” While the films were thrilling adaptations of later novels, the eight-episode season is based on the first Reacher story “Killing Floor.” The films were entertaining in their own right, but season one of “Reacher” is a faithful adaptation that acts as a strong entry point into the Jack Reacher franchise and a tightly-knit crime thriller.

The premise of the book series revolves around Jack Reacher, a former U.S. Army Policeman who wanders the United States and becomes embroiled in several conspiracies. Reacher is a drifter who travels with minimal items and most of his past is unknown to others. Despite his anonymity-based lifestyle, and occasional reluctance, Reacher is driven by his determination to help those in need when the time calls for it. Reacher’s intelligence and fearlessness is topped off by an imposing physical build, as he stands at 6 feet 5 inches tall and 250 pounds, and his brutal yet fast hand-to-hand combat proficiency.

In the Amazon series, Reacher (Alan Ritchson) visits the rural town of Margrave, Georgia. Just minutes after arriving, Reacher is arrested by the local police department for a murder that took place the night before. Reacher is able to prove his innocence early on, but he soon discovers a personal connection to the criminal conspiracy involving the murder he was framed for. On a violent warpath, Reacher teams up with Chief Detective Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin) and Officer Roscoe Conklin (Willa Fitzgerald) to bring justice to the victim and vengeance to the conspirators.

The series does well in capturing the mystique around the Reacher character. Reacher is a compelling lead who displays violent tendencies, deductive skills and a hardened conscience. However, the series recognizes that he is far from the typical sleuth archetype. While the Cruise films were able to capture Reacher’s resourceful thinking and his machismo, albeit not physically, Cruise’s star power cast a shadow over the character. As Cruise plays his share of badass characters in films like “Collateral” and the “Mission: Impossible” series, it is hard to distinguish Cruise’s Reacher as not being just another one of his typecast roles. It is also harder to connect with the films’ Reacher, as they’re based on the ninth and eighteenth books in the series, and we do not get much of his backstory or any personal stakes as a result.

Making “Killing Floor” the basis for season one of “Reacher” is the best decision for new fans. Not only because “Killing Floor” is the character’s introduction, but we get to understand what makes Reacher tick, details of his childhood and a straightforward yet intriguing crime story that shows his trademark attributes. The show’s faithfulness is something that longtime fans of the books can appreciate. Cruise did a good job at playing an older Reacher, but at 5-foot-7-inches with dark hair, he is a departure from Child’s physical description in the books. Ritchson, who is 6 feet 2 inches tall with light brown hair, more closely resembles the Reacher from the books. Ritchson inhabits the character’s brutality, snarkiness, wit and heroism that hooks us in right away.

While the show is a superb adaptation of the character from the novels, it does suffer from a few cliches. There are times in the series where Reacher conveniently finds clues or dodges deadly encounters in ways that are unrealistic or overblown. Given Reacher’s sheer strength and detection skills, he was written to be an unstoppable hero. However, a flaw from this is that it never seems like he’s in any real danger. We see him take on multiple opponents with ease in a prison fight where he gouges one man’s eye and breaks the bones of a few more. We also get a predictable romance between Reacher and Roscoe that is almost a staple of any crime thriller featuring main characters of the opposite sex. Character archetypes also include a corrupt town official, a shady businessman, resilient but unsuccessful assassins and the uncompromising detective. 

In both the novels and adaptations, Reacher’s characterization largely adds weight and intrigue to the storyline. Though the character can be “Marty Stu” -esque, the show improves upon what came before. Whereas Cruise’s portrayal seems more like a caricature of an action hero, Ritchson feels more authentic. Ritchson injects the occasional humor, brutal honesty and seriousness of the character while also showing him as a man with regrets. Essentially, Reacher’s portrayal is something that easily makes or breaks the show. In this case, Ritchson delivers an enthralling performance that carries the show. Given that the character has been featured in more than 20 novels and short stories, each story may tend to feel repetitive or dry at some points. However, as “Reacher” adapts the first novel, and assuming that other books are adapted for future seasons, we are very far from suffering Reacher fatigue anytime soon. 

“Reacher” season one almost functions like an eight-hour movie. It pulls us in with a compelling character and an uncomplicated premise that is accessible for anyone to follow. The show can be summed up as comfort TV for us. It does not have overly complex plots, filler episodes or any overextending social commentary. Instead we get bone-crunching action, strong character beats, nuances into each character and a plotline that we get invested in. Like its source material, it tells a standalone mystery with a clear conclusion and resolved plotlines that make it easy for anyone to sit down and binge watch in a day. The door is also left open for more seasons that adapt any of the original novels.

Ritchson is a charismatic series lead who leaves us wanting to see more of his performance in “Reacher.” As John Krasinski did for “Jack Ryan” or Titus Welliver in “Bosch,” Ritchson makes the Reacher role his own as he displays the strongest facets of the character. He adopts the character’s unwavering steeliness as he faces off with several adversaries, and we can sense his inner warmth as he interacts with some of the townspeople about trivial things such as Jazz. He gains the edge over Cruise as he gets the opportunity to develop Reacher’s brutish energy and dry wit. Circumstances of the plot even allow him to display the character’s inner turmoil as he seeks out justice for a personal tragedy that hangs over his head for most of the series. Whenever Ritchson is onscreen, we can already envision a memorable quote or fight scene that will cement Reacher into our minds as a magnetic character we want more of.

“Reacher” is a faithful adaptation of Jack Reacher from Child’s long-running book series. The show is a solid thriller that acts as a great entryway into the character, which is further enhanced by Ritchson’s portrayal. For anyone looking for more action, thrills or likable heroes from television, “Reacher” is a Prime show that has it all.

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Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including Risky Business , A Few Good Men , The Firm , Jerry Maguire , and the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Who Is Tom Cruise?

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, better known as Tom Cruise, was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, to Mary and Thomas Mapother. Cruise's mother was an amateur actress and schoolteacher, and his father was an electrical engineer. His family moved around a great deal when Cruise was a child to accommodate his father's career.

Cruise's parents divorced when he was 11, and the children moved with their mother to Louisville, Kentucky, and then to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, after she remarried. Like his mother and three sisters, Cruise suffered from dyslexia, which made academic success difficult for him. He excelled in athletics, however, and considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling until a knee injury sidelined him during high school.

At age 14, Cruise enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with thoughts of becoming a priest, but he left after a year. When he was 16, a teacher encouraged him to participate in the school's production of the musical Guys and Dolls . After Cruise won the lead of Nathan Detroit, he found himself surprisingly at home on the stage, and a career was born.

'Taps,' 'The Outsiders'

Cruise set a 10-year deadline for himself in which to build an acting career. He left school and moved to New York City, struggling through audition after audition before landing an appearance in 1981's Endless Love , starring Brooke Shields. Around this same time, he snagged a small role in the military school drama Taps (1981), co-starring Sean Penn .

His role in Taps was upgraded after director Harold Becker saw Cruise's potential, and his performance caught the attention of a number of critics and filmmakers. In 1983, Cruise appeared in Francis Ford Coppola 's The Outsiders , which also starred Emilio Estevez , Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe —all prominent members of a group of young actors the entertainment press dubbed the "Brat Pack." The film was not well received, but it allowed Cruise to work with an acclaimed director on a high-profile project.

'Risky Business'

His next film, Risky Business (1983), grossed $65 million. It also made Cruise a highly recognizable actor — thanks in no small part to a memorable scene of the young star dancing in his underwear.

In 1986, after a two-year hiatus, the budding actor released the big-budget fantasy film Legend , which did poorly at the box office. That same year, however, Cruise's A-list status was confirmed with the release of Top Gun , which co-starred Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan . The testosterone-fueled action-romance, set against the backdrop of an elite naval flight school, became the highest-grossing film of 1986.

'The Color of Money,' 'Rain Man' and 'Born on the Fourth of July'

Cruise followed the tremendous success of Top Gun with a string of both critically acclaimed and commercially successful films. He first starred in The Color of Money (1986) with co-star Paul Newman , and then went on to work with Dustin Hoffman on Rain Man (1988). Cruise's next role, as Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in the biopic Born on the Fourth of July (1989), earned him an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

'A Few Good Men,' 'The Firm' and 'Interview with a Vampire'

In 1992, Cruise proved once more that he could hold his own opposite a screen legend when he co-starred with Jack Nicholson in the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men . The film grossed more than $15 million its first weekend and earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. He continued to demonstrate his success as a leading man with The Firm (1993) and Interview with a Vampire (1994), which co-starred Brad Pitt.

'Mission: Impossible,' 'Jerry McGuire'

Next, Cruise hit the big screen with two huge hits—the $64 million blockbuster Mission: Impossible (1996), which the star also produced, and the highly acclaimed Jerry McGuire (1996), directed by Cameron Crowe. For the latter, Cruise earned a second Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe for Best Actor.

'Eyes Wide Shut,' 'Magnolia'

Cruise and then-wife Kidman spent much of 1997 and 1998 in England shooting Eyes Wide Shut , an erotic thriller that would be director Stanley Kubrick 's final film. The movie came out in the summer of 1999 to mixed reviews, but that year Cruise enjoyed greater success with the release of Magnolia . His performance as a self-confident sex guru in the ensemble film earned him another Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

'Vanilla Sky,' 'The Last Samurai'

Cruise then starred in the long-awaited smash hit Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000, alongside Anthony Hopkins , Thandie Newton and Ving Rhames. In 2002, he starred in Vanilla Sky , his second collaboration with Crowe, as well as Steven Spielberg 's Minority Report . The following year, Cruise traveled to Australia to shoot the $100 million war epic The Last Samurai, which earned him another Golden Globe nomination.

'War of the Worlds'

Cruise proved he remained a top draw by starring in the Spielberg-directed remake of the science-fiction classic War of the Worlds (2005), which grossed more than $230 million at the box office.

His next effort, Mission: Impossible 3 (2006), also scored well with audiences. However, Cruise was faced with a professional setback in August when Paramount Pictures ended its 14-year relationship with the actor. The company's chairman cited Cruise's erratic behavior and controversial views as the reason for the split, though industry experts noted that Paramount more likely ended the partnership over Cruise's high earnings from the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Cruise quickly rebounded and on November 2, 2006, he announced his new partnership with film executive Paula Wagner and the United Artists film studio. Their first production as a team, the political drama Lions for Lambs (2007), proved a commercial disappointment despite a strong cast that included Meryl Streep and Robert Redford .

'Tropic Thunder'

Taking a break from weighty material, Cruise delighted audiences with his performance in the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008). Despite his relatively small role in a movie that featured Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller , Cruise stood out by obscuring his trademark good looks to play a balding, obese movie studio executive.

'Valkyrie,' 'Rock of Ages'

In December 2008, Cruise released his second project through United Artists. The film, Valkyrie , was a World War II drama about a plot to assassinate German leader Adolf Hitler . Cruise starred as a German army officer who became involved in the conspiracy.

Cruise returned to one of his most popular franchises in 2011 with Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol . Breaking into new territory, he then starred in the 2012 musical Rock of Ages . Although Cruise received some positive reviews for his performance as a rock star, the movie failed to attract much of an audience.

'Jack Reacher,' 'Edge of Tomorrow'

Returning to his mainstream action roots, Cruise starred in the 2012 crime drama Jack Reacher , based on a book by Lee Child. He then headlined a pair of science-fiction adventures, Oblivion (2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). Showing no signs of slowing down, the veteran actor in 2015 delivered his usual high-energy performance for the fifth installment of his blockbuster franchise, Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation .

Latest Movies and Familiar Franchises

In 2016, Cruise reprised the role of Jack Reacher for Never Go Back . He then headlined a reboot of The Mummy (2017), which performed respectably at the box office but was savaged by critics, before earning better reviews later that year for the crime thriller American Made .

2018 brought a return to familiar territory for Cruise, who starred in Mission Impossible —Fallout that summer. Prior to its release, he tweeted a photo to mark day 1 of production on the long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick , scheduled for a June 2020 release.

Scientology and Personal Life

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers in 1987. It was through Rogers that the actor became a student of Scientology, the religion founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise credited the church with curing his dyslexia, and he soon became one of its leading proponents. However, while his spiritual life flourished, his marriage to Rogers ended in 1990. That same year, Cruise made the racecar drama Days of Thunder alongside Kidman. Though the movie was unpopular among critics and fans alike, the two lead actors had real chemistry. On Christmas Eve 1990, after a brief courtship, Cruise and Kidman married in Telluride, Colorado.

Divorce from Kidman

For much of the 1990s, Cruise and Kidman found themselves fiercely defending the happiness and legitimacy of their marriage. They filed two different lawsuits against tabloid publications for stories they considered libelous. In each case, the couple received a published retraction and apology, along with a large monetary settlement which they donated to charity. The couple has two children, Isabella and Connor.

On February 5, 2001, Cruise and Kidman announced their separation after 11 years of marriage. The couple cited the difficulties involved with two acting careers and the amount of time spent apart while working. Following the divorce, Cruise briefly dated his Vanilla Sky co-star Penelope Cruz , followed by a much-publicized relationship with actress Katie Holmes. A month after his ties to Holmes became public, Cruise professed his love for the actress in a now-famous appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, during which he jumped on Winfrey's sofa, shouting "Yes!"

Marriage to Katie Holmes

In June 2005, after a two-month courtship, Cruise proposed to Holmes in a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel tower. In October, they announced that they were expecting their first child together. The hasty proposal and surprise pregnancy quickly became tabloid gossip. But Cruise made even bigger headlines that year as an outspoken advocate for Scientology. He openly criticized former co-star Brooke Shields for using anti-depressants during her recovery from postpartum depression. He also denounced psychiatry and modern medicine, claiming Scientology held the key to true healing. Cruise's statements led to a heated argument with news anchor Matt Lauer on The Today Show in June 2005, for which Cruise later apologized.

In 2006, Cruise and Holmes welcomed daughter Suri into the world. That year, they were married in an Italian castle, with celebrities Will Smith , Jada Pinkett Smith , Jennifer Lopez and Victoria and David Beckham among those in attendance. However, the storybook romance wouldn't last, and in June 2012, the couple announced their separation.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 1962
• Birth date: July 3, 1962
• Birth State: New York
• Birth City: Syracuse
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including 'Risky Business,' 'A Few Good Men,' 'The Firm,' 'Jerry Maguire' and the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise.
• Astrological Sign: Cancer

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Tom Cruise Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/tom-cruise
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: March 26, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

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Power Lawyers 2024: Meet Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys

They don’t advertise on billboards, but among industry insiders these A-list attorneys are almost as famous (or infamous) as the stars they represent.

By Alison Brower, Editor

Alison Brower, Editor

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Meet the dealmakers and litigators who made the cut for THR ‘s 18th annual list of the entertainment industry’s most powerful legal advocates. These 100 standouts — listed alphabetically along with their practice area, firm and law school alma mater — negotiate the pacts and fight the battles that keep the cameras rolling. 

James Adams  

Schreck Rose 

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My guilty TV pleasure “ Below Deck .”

Michael Auerbach 

Jackoway Austen 

Client David Corenswet nabbed the role of Superman in James Gunn’s reboot; showrunner Graham Wagner went nuclear as co-creator of the Amazon hit Fallout , which is going straight into season two; James Marsden made a deal to return for Sonic 3 ; Mia Goth’s horror trilogy is wrapping up with MaXXXine; and Zach Cregger will finally begin shooting Weapons , his follow-up to Barbarian .

Buzzword I’d banish “Bingeworthy.”

Karl Austen 

“We can make really great deals notwithstanding the environment,” Austen says, and he’s got the evidence to prove it. Clients include Justin Hartley, whose Tracker on CBS became the No. 1 broadcast series and quickly scored a second season, and Dave Bautista, who signed on for three movies and now commands a quote of at least $12.5 million for studio projects. 

Power lunch spot “Polo Lounge.”

Dean Bahat 

Ziffren Brittenham 

How I celebrate a deal “With a Tiger Woods fist pump and yakitori at Nanban-kan.”

John Berlinski 

Bird Marella 

University of Michigan

When Scarlett Johansson had a beef with OpenAI, she called Berlinski (the same lawyer who’d earlier repped her in her Black Widow profit participation suit). Berlinski also was behind The Seelig Group lawsuit against 20th Century Fox films over decisions from parent company Disney to prioritize its streaming platform over theatrical releases, allegedly resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. 

My guilty TV pleasure “Keith Morrison solving a cold case on Dateline .”

Jeff Bernstein 

Client Margot Robbie had the biggest movie of 2023 ( Barbie , remember?), and she’s been keeping Bernstein busy since. He inked her next acting deal ( A Big Bold Beautiful Journey ) and negotiated an extension of her contract with Chanel and a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Meanwhile, client Carey Mulligan signed on for One for the Money , while Judi Dench locked in a deal with Penguin to pen her memoir, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent . 

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “Jack McCoy ( Law & Order ).”

Gordon Bobb 

Del Shaw 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard .”

Leigh Brecheen 

Brecheen Feldman 

Sandra Day O’Connor

In the past year, Brecheen has negotiated John Oliver’s three-year renewal with Max and closed the deal for a second season of Conan O’Brien Must Go . She also assisted with the sale of a stake of Brad Pitt’s Plan B to Mediawan. Other clients include Nia Long, Mel Gibson and Sharon Stone. Despite the deal climate being hard, “IP is the gift that keeps on giving,” she says. 

Hollywood figure I’d trade places with “Taylor Swift — she is the queen of the universe!”

Andrew Brettler 

Berk Brettler 

Brooklyn Law School

In the past year, Brettler, whose client list runs from Prince Andrew to Armie Hammer, has handled professional crises on behalf of the likes of Justin Roiland, Russell Brand and Colleen Ballinger. He’s especially pleased with how things turned out in the blockbuster gambling scandal involving Dodger superstar Shohei Ohtani. “It helps to have an innocent client,” he says.  

Power lunch spot “Sunset Tower.”

We’ll know the town is back when … “I think it’s back.”

Stephen Clark 

Lichter Grossman 

UC Law San Francisco

Buzzword I’d banish “ ‘Ecosystem’ — though I can’t say that I’ve never used it.”

Robert Darwell 

Sheppard Mullin 

Darwell works with Prime Video on everything from sports to TV overalls. “With them, things move very quickly,” notes the attorney, who moonlights as a documentary filmmaker. He says he sees changes in dealmaking, especially with top talent. Studios and streamers “want to be in business — not just with a name but with a talent that is going to generate projects that will get made.” 

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “[ Suits ’] Harvey Specter, of course.”

Warren Dern 

Sloane Offer 

Southwestern

He helped Rebel Wilson put together Bride Hard , which she’s producing and starring in, while client Paul Feig is shooting the untitled Simple Favor sequel and Gore Verbinski settles back into the director’s chair with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die . Other clients include Ruben Fleischer, who’s helming the next Now You See Me movie, along with Amy Poehler, Zack Snyder, J.A. Bayona and Drew Pierce, who penned The Fall Guy .

Buzzword I’d banish “I am not sure I like the phrase ‘new normal.’ ”

André Des Rochers 

Granderson Des Rochers 

Buzzword I’d banish “ ‘Leaning in.’ I need to stop saying it myself.”

Ken Deutsch 

Paul Hastings 

Deutsch is a sought-after expert for content companies, investors and A-list talent exploring capital raises and other deals. His clients include Jon Favreau (who signed a deal for a big-screen version of The Mandalorian ), Indian Paintbrush and Charles D. King’s Macro Media. Deutsch also represented Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries in a multipicture co-financing arrangement with A24 that included the recent Civil War .

My guilty TV pleasure “All things Yellowstone .”

Isaac Dunham 

Client John Mulaney hosted, wrote and executive produced the six-night live show Everybody’s in L.A. on Netflix. Dunham also saw client Rachel Brosnahan book the role of Lois Lane in Superman: Legacy and closed a deal for Paul Walter Hauser to star in the Chris Farley feature biopic. 

How I celebrate a deal “Preparing for the next set of issues to negotiate.”

David Eisman 

Skadden 

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “Lionel Hutz. Who doesn’t want to rep the Simpsons?”

Jeff Endlich 

Yorn Levine 

Endlich has a knack for guiding auteurs toward passion projects that also have commercial appeal. Everything Everywhere All at Once filmmakers Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert) are writing their next picture for Universal, while Taika Waititi recently wrapped on the Jenna Ortega starrer Klara and the Sun for Sony. On the TV side, BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg inked a deal for a new animated series at Netflix, while Reservation Dogs breakout D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai has signed to star in the Alex Garland feature Warfare .

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “An actor.”

Alan Epstein 

Willkie Farr

Epstein believes things are not as bleak in Hollywood as they may seem. “There’s hope on the horizon. The stock market is a leading indicator, and that gives you a sense of where a lot of smart people think this is going,” he says, adding that interest rates appear to be heading toward a decline. And recent headwinds haven’t stopped him from brokering deals like Ryan Reynolds’ $1.35 billion sale of Mint to T-Mobile. 

Hollywood figure I’d trade places with “John Legend.”

Jamie Feldman 

The most surprising budget line item I’ve fought over “Pole dancing trainer.”

Hansen Jacobson

Fox is “genuinely funny,” says Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein, who’s shooting the second season of his Apple TV+ series Shrinking , and just reupped his overall deal with Warner Bros. TV. “He’s always pitching to be a writer’s assistant on one of our shows, and I’m like, ‘You can have it, but I need you to do the deals!’ ” Fox also does the deals for a roster that includes Abbott Elementary ’s Tyler James Williams (a client since the actor was just 16), Reacher star Alan Ritchson, Saltburn auteur Emerald Fennell and Fallout co-creator Geneva Robertson-Dworet.

Melissa Fox 

Hansen Jacobson 

Fox represents some of today’s top names in comedy, including Ali Wong (she finalized her deal for a new Netflix special), Tim Robinson, Kate McKinnon, Maya Erskine and Hasan Minhaj as well as SNL players Michael Che, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim and Sarah Sherman.

Buzzword I’d banish “ ‘Flywheel’ — love the concept, hate the word.”

Jeff Frankel  

McKuin Frankel & Whitehead

My guilty TV pleasure “ Buying Beverly Hills .”

Bryan Freedman

Freedman & Taitelman

University of the Pacific, McGeorge

Read THR’s Freedman cover story.

Rob Freeman 

Proskauer  

He’s crafted deals for Warner Bros. Discovery, Cox Communications, NFL Media, Tiger Woods’ TMRW Sports and FanDuel. Plus, Freeman has advised multiple clients on sports betting-related deals. His mentees have gone on to senior positions at HBO, Turner, Hulu, the NBA and MLB. 

Buzzword I’d banish “Synergies.”

My guilty TV pleasure “ Outer Banks .”

Matt Galsor 

Greenberg Glusker 

The canny dealmaker scored a strategic deal with Warner Bros. for Tom Cruise while client Chris Hemsworth entered talks for Amazon movie Crime 101 and signed a producing deal with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity. Vin Diesel set up a new Riddick movie; J.K. Rowling will exec produce a new Harry Potter series for Max; James Cameron is in production on his next Avatar ; and David Fincher is about to close on his next project.

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “Dan Fielding (from Night Court ). He’s even better than Saul Goodman, I think.”

Jonathan Gardner 

Cohen Gardner 

University of Virginia

Buzzwords I’d banish “It’s a no-brainer.”

Bruce Gellman 

UC Berkeley

He negotiated overall deals for The Diplomat creator Debora Cahn, Locke & Key showrunner Meredith Averill and Mike Daniels (Peacock’s upcoming Fight Night ), while continuing to advise heavy hitters like Dan Fogelman and Jennie Snyder Urman on their overall pacts. He also represented Ilene Chaiken and Tracker creator Ben Winters for development projects.

Power lunch spot “Euro Caffé (owners Mayda and Vartan Kemanjian are the best).”

Gregg Gellman 

Loyola Law School

After client Alex Edelman’s one-man show Just for Us concluded its global tour, Gellman set up a deal for an HBO special. He also lined up a second season of Bookie for Sebastian Maniscalco, while queuing up another special and a just-renewed Netflix series, Tires , for stand-up Shane Gillis, a deal shaped with partner Jared Levine. But his roster isn’t entirely a laughing matter. He also reps Lulu Wang ( Expats ) and Bluey creator Joe Brumm.

How I celebrate closing a deal “I always thought it would be fun to have a giant cowbell in the office to ring. But I just move on to the next deal.”

Rick Genow 

Goodman Genow 

Power lunch spot “The Grill. It’s timeless.”

Bobby Ghajar 

Cooley 

He’s defending Meta against creatives in their seismic IP suit over AI. And so far, he appears to be winning, securing dismissals of most of the creatives’ claims, including their core infringement theory, with the judge calling the writers’ argument “nonsensical.” His other work in the past year included obtaining the dismissal of a trademark infringement lawsuit against Kim Kardashian’s skin-care line. 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Power Slap . It’s like a train wreck I can’t stop watching.”

Lev Ginsburg 

Ginsburg Daniels Kallis 

He negotiated Timothée Chalamet’s deal to play Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown for Searchlight. Tom Brady roast standout Nikki Glaser toplined a hit Max stand-up special, Someday You’ll Die , and continues as host and exec producer of FBoy Island spinoff Lovers and Liars . 

The most surprising budget item I’ve fought over “A streaming platform’s policy against reimbursing its own executives for their subscriptions to that platform.”

Leah Godesky 

O’Melveny 

How I celebrate a win “Reading fiction on a beach.”

Tamerlin Godley 

She reps studios like Warner Bros. Discovery and talent like Adele and the wellness phenom Jay Shetty. Lately, though, she’s been busy with NBCUniversal as it faces labor complaints from its reality stars. She’s also frequently involved in running outside investigations into workplace claims on behalf of corporations. Says Godley, “I tell clients: ‘How we investigate is as important as what we find out.’ ”

Hollywood figure I’d trade places with “Meryl Streep — smart, top of her game, multitalented. Donna Langley — same descriptors!”

Carlos Goodman 

Goodman’s roster of A-list auteurs could fill the Dolby Theatre — and often does. Clients include 2024 Oscar winners Jonathan Glazer ( The Zone of Interest ) and producer David Heyman ( Barbie ). He also reps Challengers helmer Luca Guadagnino, Civil War director Alex Garland, Darren Aronofsky, Steve McQueen and Jeff Nichols ( The Bikeriders ). Goodman also sealed deals for Christian Bale and Jacob Elordi (co-repped with partner Rick Genow) to star in Frankenstein films from, respectively, Guillermo del Toro and Maggie Gyllenhaal. 

We’ll know the town is back when … “I’d say get used to the current state of things for a while.”

Marissa Román Griffith

​​Griffith spent part of 2023 working with Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook to secure a multimillion-dollar loan facility for an episodic series, and with Anonymous Content to refinance a multimillion-dollar senior secured revolving credit facility. She’s also continued to support MRC with its production and financing needs on titles like the Oscar-winning American Fiction and Peacock’s Poker Face .

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “Jane Bingum from Drop Dead Diva .”

Justin Hamill 

Latham & Watkins 

Boston College

While the M&A market is slowly picking up steam amid a high-interest-rate environment, there is one Hollywood deal that was a bona fide blockbuster. The private equity firm Silver Lake inked a $13 billion deal to take longtime Hamill client Endeavor — owner of WME, IMG, and a majority stake in WWE and UFC owner TKO — private. 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Seinfeld reruns.”

Harris Hartman 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Bluey. ”

Shawn Holley 

Kinsella Holley 

When free-agent pitcher Trevor Bauer was accused of sexual assault, he turned to Holley for help. After a lawsuit from the first accuser was resolved without Bauer having to pay to settle the case, Holley helped get prosecutors to bring extortion charges against a second accuser. And although Danny Masterson was found guilty of rape, she may have saved him years in prison by undermining testimony from a former girlfriend, the only victim of the three for which there was no conviction. She also recently was on Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team handling lawsuits accusing the artist of sexual assault.

Jeff Hynick 

Hynick advised new A-lister Jenna Ortega in closing a flurry of post- Wednesday deals, including a starring role in Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun . Hynick also guides filmmakers Jonathan Entwistle ( Karate Kid ), Parker Finn ( Smile 2 ) and Lee Isaac Chung ( Twisters ), as well as Nicole Kidman and Hannah Waddingham. “Constant change is the new normal,” he says.

Buzzword I’d banish “There is way too much ‘looping’ going on these days.”

Kimberly Jaime 

Hollywood figure I’d trade places with “Greta Gerwig.”

Matthew Johnson 

JSSK  

Johnson’s busiest client, Tyler Perry, renewed his partnership with BET through 2028, and added a multiyear first-look series deal to his partnership with Netflix. Johnson also set up Sam Mendes’ deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to direct four films about The Beatles for release in 2027. Other clients include Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Adam McKay and Alfonso Cuarón.

My guilty TV pleasure “Anything involving Vikings.”

Adam Kaller 

Kaller, helped broker the $100 million deal that gave SiriusXM rights to the podcast SmartLess , hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes. “That was an extraordinary deal in a crazy depressed market,” he says. He also celebrated the Emmy win of his client Steven Yeun for his role in Beef and the success of Five Nights at Freddy’s , after brokering the deal for client Josh Hutcherson to star in the film.

Hollywood figure I’d trade places with “Bob Iger, but I get to keep my age [57].”

Philip M. Kelly 

Kendall Brill & Kelly 

Power lunch spot “Unfortunately, at my desk. As much as I love a good lunch meeting, most days I simply do not have time.”

Kelly Klaus 

Munger Tolles & Olson 

Klaus defended Disney in a case over allegations the company used a VFX firm’s technology to animate CG characters. While it was found that Disney infringed on IP from Rearden, which sought nearly $1 billion, Klaus slashed the damages to $600,000 by convincing jurors that the company’s tech “played an extraordinarily small role in the enormously complex process” of animation.

My guilty TV pleasure “ Hell’s Kitchen .”

Deborah Klein 

Klein’s marquee clients had huge years in 2023 and 2024. Samuel L. Jackson secured another year of his lucrative deal with Capital One and joined Kevin Hart in Peacock’s Muhammad Ali-centric limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist . Will Ferrell just locked in a new Netflix series alongside Ramy Youssef — which follows the eight-figure deal that Netflix closed on Ferrell’s Sundance documentary Will & Harper . 

Robby Koch 

We’ll know the town is back when … “someone greenlights Nancy Meyers’ new movie.”

Tara Kole 

Kole’s roster is a mix of rising stars (Josh O’Connor,Charles Melton) and Hollywood mainstays (Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie). Kole also helps guide the careers of Zac Efron, who can soon be seen opposite Nicole Kidman in Netflix’s rom-com A Family Affair , as well as Succession ’s Matthew Macfadyen, The Fall Guy producers David Leitch and Kelly McCormick, and Talk to Me directing duo Danny and Michael Philippou.

Power lunch spot “San Vicente Bungalows, even though I’m not actually a member and still have to get the little stickers put on my phone [to block the camera].”

Bianca Levin 

Gang Tyre 

Levin oversaw Regina King’s first-look deal with Netflix, including the Oscar winner’s pact to direct and exec produce the series adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s A Man in Full . Levin brokered Dwayne Johnson’s deals to star in and produce Disney’s live-action version of Moana and A24’s Benny Safdie-directed biopic The Smashing Machine , starring Johnson and Emily Blunt.

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “[ Scandal ’s] Olivia Pope.”

Molly Lens 

Buzzword I’d banish “Disrupters.” 

Jared Levine 

Levine helped shape Shane Gillis’ deal for Tires , the scripted workplace series the comedian financed, created and stars in at Netflix. “There aren’t that many shows where the talent fully finances it,” Levine says. “That’s risky and heady stuff.” He’s also been at work on behalf of Steph Curry’s Unanimous Media, which is producing the animated movie GOAT at Sony and making the show Mr. Throwback at Peacock. 

Buzzword I’d banish “Bandwidth.”

Ryan LeVine 

He’s repped Jacob Tremblay since the actor was 5 years old and helped guide Iain Armitage through seven seasons of Young Sheldon . LeVine steered Sophie Thatcher and Tawny Cypress through renegotiations for season three of Yellowjackets and helped put Fred Hechinger ( The White Lotus ) into four movies due later this year. And he closed Octavia Spencer’s deal to star in and produce a female-assassin buddy comedy series for Amazon that sparked a gnarly bidding war. “It was the biggest deal of her career,” he says. 

Power lunch spot “Roof garden at The Peninsula.”

Jamie Mandelbaum 

Hollywood figure I’d trade places with “I’m not envious enough of anybody else to trade places. I’m grateful for what I do.” 

Steve Marenberg 

University of Chicago

Marenberg has been at the forefront of defending studios over decisions related to implementing vaccine mandates on set. He defeated a lawsuit from Ingo Rademacher over his dismissal from General Hospital , convincing the court that the actor’s opposition to the COVID vaccine was grounded in his religious beliefs, not concerns over his health or safety. 

My guilty TV pleasure “OId episodes of Boston Legal .”

David Matlof 

Hirsch Wallerstein 

Client Jesse Plemons, who just won best actor in Cannes for his turn in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness , is wrapping the Netflix series Zero Day with Robert De Niro and has signed on for Lanthimos’ next film. Maya Rudolph’s season two of Loot finally debuted on Apple TV+ after strike disruptions, while Joseph Kosinski is directing his Formula 1 movie with Brad Pitt and mulling another Top Gun sequel. 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Inside the NBA — while it lasts.”

Joel McKuin 

McKuin Frankel Whitehead

Buzzword I’d banish “ ‘Piece of business,’ as in ‘This is a good piece of business.’ ”

Elizabeth McNamara 

Davis Wright Tremaine 

What is fair use in an era of artificial intelligence? It’s a challenge that McNamara has been grappling with, as her blockbuster case representing the major book publishing houses against the Internet Archive moves through the appellate process. “Whether it be AI or more traditional uses, it is critical that the rights of creators be protected and respected,” she says. 

Buzzword I’d banish “ ‘Let’s interrogate this …’ What’s wrong with, ‘Let’s analyze this’ or ‘Let’s look at this’?”

Devin McRae

Early Sullivan

This year, he counts among his biggest wins a settlement on behalf of William Crabtree, a colorist on the Invincible comic book series who sued Robert Kirkman ( The Walking Dead ) in a clash over copyright co-authorship, just weeks before the trial was set to start. McRae also represents Kurt McLeod, the writer of Copshop , against his former talent manager and producer of the movie in a lawsuit over conflicts of interests and alleged deceit, and Bill Weinstein in a lawsuit against other Verve executives dealing with allegations that he was illegally locked out of the company he founded. 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Gomorrah , The   Equalizer , The Bachelorette .”

John Meigs Jr. 

Meigs closed Issa Rae’s nine-figure overall at HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery, with the multihyphenate writing two new series on top of brand deals for her own line of prosecco, a partnership with Tazo tea and an ad campaign for Target’s delivery service, Shipt. Meigs also worked on Kaley Cuoco’s deal for her pet product line, Oh Norman!, named for Cuoco’s deceased pooch (her production shingle, Yes, Norman, also honors him). Other notable clients include Prentice Penny, Winston Duke and Betty Gilpin.

Power lunch spot “It was Da Pasquale — sadly, it closed when the family moved back to Italy.”

Darrell Miller 

Fox Rothschild 

Miller’s client Taylor Tomlinson became the youngest face of late night as host of CBS’ After Midnight ; he negotiated a seven-figure deal with Netflix for Tomlinson to star in two more stand-up specials at the streamer as well. The attorney also negotiated endorsement pacts for Ludacris ranging from Movado to State Farm and for Angela Bassett to star in Netflix’s Zero Day with Robert De Niro. 

We’ll know the town is back when … “the production start date is announced for the next installment of Fast & Furious. ”

Justin Nelson 

Sussman Godfrey 

Hollywood figure I’d trade places with “David Zaslav — imagine the good you could do from that position.”

Amy Nickin 

Frankfurt Kurnit 

Wayne State University

Nickin closed a deal for Band of Brothers writer Erik Jendresen to co-write the next Mission: Impossible while inking Dahmer ’s Ian Brennan to an overall pact with Netflix, where he is working on a Monster follow-up focused on the Menendez brothers. On the acting side, client Allison Williams is gearing up to produce and shoot M3GAN 2.0 , while John Goodman closed a deal to voice star in The Smurfs Movie opposite Rihanna. 

Power lunch spot “Roze Pony in Nashville.”

Robert Offer 

White Lotus showrunner Mike White was among his first clients 30 years ago. He’s picked up quite a few more since, including Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti and Will Arnett, whose podcast, SmartLess , with Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes has turned into a nine-figure business. Says Offer, “To see people trying to find outlets for their creativity turn them into huge, huge deals is exciting.” Other clients: Tom Holland, Brie Larson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Gal Gadot and Ewan McGregor.

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “Ally McBeal.”

Rick Offsay 

Power lunch spot “John O’Groats.”

Danny Passman 

Client Nicholas Galitzine scored with Amazon’s The Idea of You and now has two new projects with the streamer: a sequel to Red White and Royal Blue and the Masters of the Universe feature set for 2026, with Galatzine as He-Man. Passman also helped Finneas O’Connell (brother of Billie Eilish, also a Passman client) make a deal to act in Laid , Nahnatchka Khan’s upcoming comedy for Peacock, and signed Ridley Scott to direct a Bee Gees biopic for Paramount.

The most surprising budget line item I’ve fought over “Uber allowances.”

Jodi Peikoff 

Peikoff Mahan 

Cardozo 

She reps Barbie ’s America Ferrera, who will soon be directing I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter , and The Bear ’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach, helping him score a notable raise for seasons three and four and a deal for him to star in the new Fantastic Four franchise.

The most surprising budget line item I’ve fought ove r “Airplane tickets for toddler children to fly with their actor parent in business class — studios are asking them to fly with their nanny in economy.”

Robyn Polashuk 

Covington 

Power lunch spot “I may be dating myself, but I mourn the closing of Craft, which was my go-to location for a decade. Their host spent 40 years in the L.A. dining community and remembered all of his patrons.”

Ken Richman 

Richman recently inked an overall deal at Netflix for Beef creator Lee Sung Jin, who won three Emmys for the limited series. And he’s been helping multiple other clients seal lucrative pacts for the final seasons of their shows, including Elisabeth Moss ( The   Handmaid’s Tale ), Jeff Schaffer ( Curb Your Enthusiasm ), Alec Berg ( Barry ) and Steve Molaro ( Young Sheldon ). 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Survivor . Just finished season 46. Someday I’ll be a contestant.”

George Washington

She negotiated Lin-Manuel Miranda’s deal to write songs for the Disney tentpole Mufasa . In the live stage space, Rose advised client Lorne Michaels on Mean Girls for the West End and the development of Schmigadoon! as a musical. She also negotiated Sara Bareilles’ deal for her upcoming stage musical adaptation of The Interestings , based on the Meg Wolitzer novel and 2016 series. 

Buzzword I’d banish “I hate ‘deep dive.’ Would love to see that go.”

Mathew Rosengart 

Greenberg Traurig 

My guilty TV pleasure “I was obsessed with the final season of Succession .”

Benyamin Ross 

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher 

He’s worked every angle at the bargaining table for top clients like Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Candle Media, Universal Pictures (which he advised on an investment and distribution partnership with Amblin Entertainment), The Chernin Group and Fandango Media.

How I celebrate a deal “A phoneless walk outside.”

Gretchen Rush 

Rush had a hand in major releases in the past year, from David Benioff and Dan Weiss’ 3 Body Problem to Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon , as well as Kerry Washington’s memoir, T hicker Than Water .After signing The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin last spring, she negotiated his new HBO deal.

How I celebrate a deal “Eight-ounce filet mignon and a glass of Rioja.”

Faiza Saeed 

Cravath  

She advised Disney in one of the most high-profile legal battles of the past year when activist investor Nelson Peltz attempted a proxy fight, facing off against CEO Bob Iger and his board. “It is an iconic company that is critical to an industry that is in a pretty pivotal period, and that is a rewarding assignment because the stakes are high,” Saeed says. 

Michael Schenkman 

Two of his longest-standing clients — Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, who’ve been with him for 25 years — swept the Oscars this year with Oppenheimer . Schenkman also reps Chuck Roven, a producer on the film (who got his own Oscar) and Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. He handled Javier Bardem’s deal to star in Joseph Kosinski’s Formula 1 movie. 

How I celebrate closing a deal “Pickleball and cocktails at the JC [Jonathan Club].”

Nina Shaw 

Shaw has lived through many strike cycles but felt a shift during the 2023 walkouts. “I’ve never seen such lack of understanding for artistic contribution, for the thing that makes something magic” she says. Still, clients like Quinta Brunson and Ayo Edebiri continue to command respect.

We’ll know the town is back when … “the gift bags come back!”

Lawrence Shire 

Grubman Shire 

Shire helped set up Apple TV+’s New England Patriots docuseries The Dynasty ; LeBron James’ deals with Nike; Robert De Niro’s projects (including his first TV series, Zero Day , for Netflix); Spike Lee’s deals (like his A24 and Apple film High and Low with Denzel Washington); and David Letterman’s projects, such as the fifth season of his Netflix talk series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction . 

Power lunch spot “Central Park.”

P.J. Shapiro 

Shapiro reps such A-listers as Selena Gomez, John Cena and Mindy Kaling, but it’s two-time Oscar winner Emma Stone who’s standing out lately. The actress reunited with her Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos in Kinds of Kindness , the movie Cannes couldn’t stop talking about, and is in negotiations to star in and produce a rom-com for Universal Pictures (with her husband and producing partner, Dave McCary, eyeing the director gig). 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Too Hot to Handle .”

Scott Sholder 

Cowan DeBaets 

The fate of thousands of Authors Guild members whose works were allegedly scraped to train a human-mimicking chatbot rests, in part, with Sholder, who has helped the trade group file a class action against OpenAI. Considered among the leading cases against the Sam Altman-led firm, the lawsuit might land at the Supreme Court. 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Bluey is at the top of the list.”

Gregory Slewett 

Glen Powell, Michael B. Jordan, Florence Pugh, Josh O’Connor, Donald Glover … his client list goes on and on. There’s also husband-and-wife team Zach Baylin and Kate Susman, who wrote the upcoming Netflix limited series Black Rabbit , and Vanessa Kirby, whose production company got its first film, a Kirby vehicle titled The Night Always Comes , produced this year. 

Jason Sloane 

Sloane works with Hugh Jackman, who stars opposite firm client Ryan Reynolds in this summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine . “Super excited that they’re teamed up,” Sloane says of the high-stakes Marvel tentpole. He also represents Anne Hathaway, Chris Pratt, Mark Wahlberg and Sebastian Stan, with the latter getting buzz at Cannes for his role as Donald Trump in the debate-stirring film The Apprentice . 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Jeopardy! ”

Mitch Smelkinson 

You can thank Smelkinson — and 60 billion minutes of viewing on Netflix and Peacock — for the growing Suits universe. He reps the show’s creator, Aaron Korsh, who’ll soon be launching Suits: L.A . Smelkinson also did the Forgive and Forget deal with 20th Century/ABC, marking client and Modern Family actor Ty Burrell’s return to series TV. Oscar Isaac, who is playing the lead in Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix epic Frankenstein , and Take Me Out ’s Jesse Ferguson also are clients. 

Buzzword I’d banish “Best-and-final.”

Cheryl Snow 

My guilty TV pleasure “Rewatching episodes of Sex and the City .”

Orin Snyder 

Gibson Dunn 

Snyder defended Bob Dylan against sexual abuse allegations stemming from 1965 (the case was dismissed with prejudice) and won a dismissal for Lady Gaga of a lawsuit filed by a woman involved in the 2021 kidnapping of the pop star’s dogs (he also advised Gaga in connection with a threatened copyright infringement claim against the Oscar-winning song “Shallow” from A Star Is Born ). And Snyder continues to defend AMC Network in multiyear litigation over profits from The Walking Dead .

Hollywood figure I’d trade places with “Charlie Chaplin.”

Christopher Spicer 

Over the past year, he’s worked with Comerica Bank on the funding of Guy Ritchie’s two most recent films for Black Bear, advised AGC Studios on the financing of the upcoming mega-TV show Those About to Die , worked with XYZ Films on recent festival favorites Skywalkers and BlackBerry and advised Fifth Season on financing and distribution. 

My guilty TV pleasure “ Bluey , and I feel no guilt whatsoever.”

Alex Spiro 

Quinn Emanuel 

Matthew Syrkin 

He represented Madison Square Garden Corp. in developing its futuristic MSG Sphere entertainment venues, including the game-changing Las Vegas theater christened by U2. Syrkin also helped SkyShowtime, the streaming joint venture of Comcast and Paramount Global, structure and negotiate deals as it rolled out in 22 European markets. Fluent in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, Syrkin boasts an A-list culture-entertainment-tech roster from Roku to Sotheby’s.

Hollywood figure I’d trade places with “Godzilla.”

Matthew Thompson 

Sidley Austin 

Thompson is a legal strategist for Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and the Gersh agency. He’s also repped such major record labels as Warner Music Group and negotiated for Dwayne Johnson to join Ari Emanuel’s TKO Group board and gain full ownership of “The Rock” trademark from the WWE. That deal was personal; the name came from the star’s father, Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson, who was the WWE’s first Black wrestling champion.

Buzzword I’d banish “Synergistic.”

Marc Toberoff 

Toberoff & Associates

Columbia Law

We’ll know the town is back when … “we stop asking that question and acknowledge the industry’s new paradigms.” 

Fred Toczek 

Felker Toczek 

He’s helping client Seth Rogen expand his TV slate to include writing and EP-ing the industry-centric The Studio for Apple TV+. He also reps Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Hader (soon to star in The Cat in the Hat ) and a slew of younger talents, like Angel Reese (pivoting her college basketball stardom into the WNBA as a member of the Chicago Sky).

Buzzword I’d banish “ ‘Best and final,’ as there’s always room for more.”

Darren Trattner 

He negotiated the sale of Scott Cooper’s Bruce Springsteen project and worked on Brian Tyree Henry’s deal for Transformers One and Giancarlo Esposito’s deals for Megalopolis and AMC’s Parish . Matt Smith, Sigourney Weaver, Caitríona Balfe and Hiro Murai are among his other clients. 

How I celebrate a deal “Who has time to celebrate?”

Seth Traxler 

Kirkland & Ellis 

Northwestern

How I celebrate closing a deal “Play some basketball.”

Steve Warren 

Clients Benicio del Toro and Leonardo DiCaprio will co-star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film — after del Toro finishes work on Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme . Warren also negotiated the deal for Colin Farrell to star in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey alongside Margot Robbie, on top of Farrell’s series roles on Apple TV+’s Sugar and Max’s Penguin . 

Buzzword I’d banish “Tranche.”

David Weber 

Longtime client Ryan Reynolds headlines the summer’s most anticipated tentpole,  Deadpool & Wolverine , and Joaquin Phoenix is starring in Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel and Ari Aster’s A24 Western Eddington . Weber also represents recent Oscar winner Cillian Murphy as well as Austin Butler, who stars opposite Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer in Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders this summer and is attached to lead Darren Aronofsky’s adaptation of Charlie Huston’s crime thriller Caught Stealing for Sony.

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “[ The Addams Family ’s] Gomez Addams; John Astin version circa mid-1960s.”

Todd Weinstein 

Weinstein Senior 

California Western

Power lunch spot “Depending on the day, Joe’s Pizza or the Polo Lounge.”

Shelby Weiser

Sloane Offer

“Shelby looks out for her clients on more than just a professional basis,” says Simu Liu, recalling how Weiser recently spent an entire day helping the Canadian actor cut through some immigration red tape (hardly a commissionable deal). The Barbie actor will next star in and executive produce (alongside James Wan) a techno-thriller series for Peacock, and he’s also racked up significant brand deals (Cheetos, Tiffany, Cadillac, McDonald’s). Client Daisy Ridley will be back for more Star Wars , and Mahershala Ali will be boarding the next Jurassic World and toplining Marvel’s Blade … someday: “That deal was in 2019, and they still haven’t shot it, which is pretty much the craziest thing in my professional experience,” Weiser says. 

Douglas Wigdor 

Wigdor 

Catholic University

He’s filed suits against Harvey Weinstein, Sean Combs, James Dolan and Jimmy Iovine, among others. Of Combs’ legal troubles, he says, “I strongly suspect this is just the beginning in holding Mr. Combs and others in the music industry accountable for abusing the power they hold.” 

Beth Wilkinson

Wilkinson Stekloff 

Wilkinson led the charge in securing one of the most significant defense verdicts of the year when a federal judge ruled that Microsoft’s merger with Activision didn’t violate antitrust laws. In the bet-the-company litigation, Wilkinson, also a lead lawyer for the NFL in a $20 billion antitrust trial over Sunday Ticket, built the tech giant’s defense on arguments that the merger would increase competition because Microsoft would be able to challenge Sony’s dominance.  “Companies are seeing that you can win against the FTC,” she told THR in September.

Susan Zuckerman Williams 

She represented New Line on the recent release of The Watchers , as well as the rights holders of The Strangers trilogy, the first film of which was just released by Lionsgate. Other high-profile clients include MUFG Bank on debt financing for the Gersh agency and Banc of California in connection with a multimillion-dollar credit facility to a music distribution company.

If I were a TV lawyer, I’d be … “[ Scandal ’s] Olivia Pope, because there are many days where my main job is crisis management!”

Sophia Yen 

Manatt 

Boston University

My guilty TV pleasure “Catching up on Simpsons (I’m currently on season 29).”

Kevin Yorn 

He’s made deals for Scarlett Johansson (for the next Jurassic World ), Matthew McConaughey (headlining Paul Greengrass’ The Lost Bus ), Jonah Hill (directing Outcome for Apple, with Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz set to star) and Zoe Saldaña (starting her second season of Taylor Sheridan’s Lioness after scoring a shared best actress prize for Emilia Pérez at Cannes). He’s also seen Alix Earle and Hailey Bieber boom in the brand space.

My guilty TV pleasure “ Perry Mason , the original series from the ’50s, ’60s.”

Julian Zajfen 

Ziffren Brittenham

Speaking of that Jurassic World sequel, Zajfen client Gareth Edwards will be directing. Meanwhile, Mark Mylod, who made The Menu , has renewed his overall with HBO, where he’s helming the first two episodes of The Last of Us ’ sophomore season. 

My guilty TV pleasure “Old Top Gear episodes.”

Profiles written by Gary Baum, Alison Brower, Patrick Brzeski, Winston Cho, Kirsten Chuba, Aaron Couch, Nicole Fell, Ryan Gajewski, Mia Galuppo, Chris Gardner, Caitlin Huston, Rebecca Keegan, Katie Kilkenny, Borys Kit, Pamela McClintock, Mikey O’Connell, Rick Porter, Seija Rankin, Lacey Rose, Rebecca Sun, Georg Szalai, Etan Vlessing and Alex Weprin.

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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

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• If you're an assassin, and you're only job is to kill this guy...shouldn't you be killing the guy at your first opportunity? Or your second? Or third? And not HOURS LATER, after the guy learns that you're carrying a gun?
• If you're a different assassin, and you've already used your trademark knife to kill a few other people...where was your knife when you had to fight the hero? Who was UNARMED during the fight???
• If you've had severe spinal surgery, and went through months of intense rehab just to be able to walk again...and, for argument's sake, you're on a speeding motorcycle that SLAMS into the side of a van...how are you then able to get up, walk away, and continue to chase the bad guy???
• Will they let ANYONE into your hotel room if they simply claim to be your wife? Without ANY sort of proof??
• Is Jack Ryan the SMARTEST PERSON EVER??? Because everyone else in the CIA seem like morons.
• How many people did they send to Moscow for this mission??? It seemed like there were 47 people on the street that were all in on the operation, and yet the inexperienced financial officer who had reconstructive spinal surgery and never killed anyone is the guy they send in for ALL the dirty work.

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Dwayne johnson “back to work” on ‘the smashing machine’ following elbow injury – update, erin kellyman joins sony’s ‘28 years later’.

By Matt Grobar

Matt Grobar

Senior Film Reporter

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EXCLUSIVE : Erin Kellyman ( Blitz ) is the newest addition to the cast of 28 Years Later , the first of three new post-apocalyptic features from Sony, following up 2002’s 28 Days Later .

No word on the role she’ll be playing, nor what the plot of the new film will entail. But as previously announced, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell will also star. Danny Boyle is directing 28 Years Later , which is due in theaters globally on June 20, 2025, from a script by Alex Garland.

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Boyle and Garland are also producing the first film, as are original producer Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice and Bernie Bellew. Returning as an executive producer, the original film’s star Cillian Murphy is also expected to appear in the new trilogy in some capacity.

Centered on a bicycle courier (Murphy) who wakes from a coma to discover the world has been overrun with zombies following the outbreak of a virus, 28 Days Later ‘s success at a $82 million worldwide gross led to the 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later , on which Boyle and Garland served only as EPs.

Later this year, Kellyman will be seen starring opposite Saoirse Ronan and Harris Dickinson in Steve McQueen’s Blitz for Apple TV+, which has been tipped as a likely contender for the 2024-25 awards season. Most recently wrapping production opposite June Squibb in Eleanor the Great , Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut for Sony, the actress has previously been seen in Disney+ and Lucasfilm’s series Willow , based on the film from Ron Howard, as well as Disney+’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Solo: A Star Wars Story .

Other past credits for Kellyman include Netflix’s Top Boy , David Lowery’s The Green Knight and the BBC’s series adaptation of Les Misérables . She’s represented by CAA, Curtis Brown Group in the UK, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.

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