James Oconner 
Anil Krishna 
Jonathan Millar 
There’s No Stopping ‘Reacher’: Prime Video Locks In Major Future for the Hit Series
© Prime Video
It looks like Prime Video has no intention of letting Reacher go anywhere anytime soon. Alan Ritchson’s action series has already become one of the streamer’s biggest hits, and now Amazon has given fans another reason to expect Reacher to stick around for a while longer. Hot on the heels of Season 4’s debut, Amazon has officially renewed Reacher for Season 6. The timing is a little surprising, especially since Season 5 only got the green light four months earlier. In fact, this is the first time the series has landed two multi-season renewals in the same calendar year, which says quite a bit about how much confidence Amazon has in the show.
It also means the people behind Reacher can keep things moving without constantly waiting around for the next renewal. Production on Season 5, which was already largely mapped out when Amazon ordered it in May, began in Toronto last July, even before Season 4 premiered in August. Season 5 will adapt Make Me, the twentieth novel in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. As for Season 6, we don’t know which book it will use yet.
Season 4 Helped Make the Renewal an Easy Call
The new renewal comes after some seriously strong numbers for Season 4. The latest season attracted 66 million viewers worldwide during its first 28 days on Prime Video, beating Season 3 and continuing a pretty unusual run for a streaming show that has already been around for several seasons.
Peter Friedlander, Head of Global Television Production at Amazon MGM Studios, was understandably enthusiastic about keeping the series going.
“Reacher hits hard,” Friedlander said to Deadline. “What Lee Child built, and what Nick Santora and his creative teams have brought to life, is simply incredible. Alan Ritchson is Jack Reacher—he has delivered a performance that has captivated audiences around the world. Together with our partners at Paramount Television Studios, we couldn’t be more excited to continue this journey. Reacher is a truly iconic series, and we are thrilled to move forward with a sixth season featuring this extraordinary cast and crew.”
And the audience numbers give Amazon plenty of reason to feel good about that decision. Seasons 2, 4 and 3 are currently the most-watched returning seasons in Prime Video history. Seasons 2 and 4 have also landed among the five most-watched seasons of any Amazon original series, putting Reacher in the same conversation as shows such as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and Fallout.
The U.S. numbers are even more telling. Season 4 topped Nielsen’s weekly streaming charts for four out of five weeks and crossed one billion minutes viewed for five straight weeks. Its best week reached 1.18 billion minutes. That’s a lot of people spending time with Jack Reacher.
What Happens in Seasons 5 and 6?
For anyone keeping track of the story, Season 4 adapted Lee Child’s Bad Luck and Trouble. The season began with a chance encounter on a subway that pulled Reacher into another dangerous situation, this time involving a conspiracy and some very powerful enemies. Basically, the kind of mess Reacher has a habit of stumbling into. Season 5 is already on the way and will adapt Make Me, while the book being used for Season 6 is still under wraps. That’s probably not a bad thing. There are plenty of Reacher novels left to choose from, and the series has already shown that it doesn’t need to rush through them.
For now, the important part is simply that Reacher isn’t going anywhere. With Seasons 5 and 6 both secured, Alan Ritchson’s version of the former military investigator has a pretty long road ahead of him. And considering how well the show continues to perform, Prime Video seems more than happy to keep sending him into trouble.
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