Alan Ritchson Says He Was Blocked From Adapting His Favorite Reacher Novel Die Trying Alan Ritchson's R-rated action thriller trends on Netflix, sharing a core element with a Reacher book he couldn't adapt. Reacher season 5 will adapt Make Me. Alan Ritchson has revealed that he was blocked from adapting his favorite Jack Reacher novel, Die Trying, for the Prime Video series. The actor shared the news in a recent interaction with a fan on Threads. Ritchson said he had tried to bring the story to life. The fan commented that they were sad Reacher had yet to adapt Die Trying, the second novel in the franchise, released back in 1998. Ritchson chimed in to confirm he had tried. He claimed he was blocked from adapting the book despite originally getting approval to do it.According to what the actor implied, the block came as a result of Donald Trump's re-election. Given that Killing Floor, the first Jack Reacher novel, had launched the series, moving straight to the second book made sense as an early plan. Instead, Ritchson was blocked from adapting his favorite novel.Until that changes, Ritchson's R-rated action thriller The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare now offers a similar experience. The film is trending on Netflix in the United States after its theatrical run. At the time of writing, it is the fourth most-watched movie on Netflix in the US.The star-studded thriller features former Superman Henry Cavill and Young Sherlock's Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and was directed by genre favorite Guy Ritchie. It is still drawing big audiences two years after its release in theaters.The core element both Ritchson's favorite Reacher novel and his hit Netflix action thriller share is that both are stories about taking on white supremacists. In the novel, Jack Reacher infiltrates a white supremacist camp. In The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Ritchson plays Anders Lassen, a member of a covert World War II team tasked with killing Nazis.The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare depicts a British Army unit's covert operations against Nazi forces. It focuses on the Special Operations Executive, a clandestine organization established by Winston Churchill whose unconventional tactics helped shape modern black operations. For Reacher fans, it is a good stand-in for the blocked adaptation.Reacher could virtually go on for as long as Ritchson wants to keep playing the character. The Prime Video series continues to lead streaming charts whenever it has new episodes to air. Every season has adapted one of Lee Child's novels so far.The Lee Child Jack Reacher series is long, with 30 core books released so far. The 31st, Chain Reaction, is set to be released soon, on October 20. Season 1 covered Killing Floor, the first Jack Reacher book, a fitting choice to start the franchise.Season 2 adapted Bad Luck and Trouble, the 11th Jack Reacher book. Season 3 went for Persuader, the 7th novel in the franchise. The recently concluded Reacher season 4 took on Gone Tomorrow, Child's 13th Reacher novel. Reacher season 5 is confirmed and will adapt Make Me, the 20th book.When Amazon launched Reacher in 2022, casting finally gave fans the hulking, 6-foot-plus ex-MP they had pictured in the novels. It was a deliberate course-correction from the Tom Cruise films. Alan Ritchson, a 6'2 former Titans star and onetime American Idol contestant, became the definitive on-screen Reacher. Lee Child publicly blessed the casting.Tom Cruise famously played Reacher in the 2012 and 2016 films to book-fan outrage. Cruise is 5'7, while the book Reacher is 6'5 and roughly 250 pounds, a detail Lee Child repeats on practically every book cover. Ritchson is 6'2, still three inches under, but he bulked up to roughly 240 pounds for the role.The Reacher TV series is based on a sprawling book franchise that has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Lee Child is the pen name of Jim Grant, a former Granada Television employee fired in 1995 at age 40 who wrote Killing Floor on the unemployment queue. It became an instant bestseller.Since 2020, Child has been co-writing and handing over to his brother Andrew, who now writes the novels solo under the Andrew Child name. Before becoming a drifter, Jack Reacher spent thirteen years in the U.S. military running an elite special investigations unit nicknamed the 110th.Reacher reached the rank of Major in the U.S. Army Military Police, commanding the 110th Special Investigations Unit. It was essentially the Army's elite internal-affairs and criminal-investigation outfit for serious cases across the globe. He was later involuntarily demoted to Captain, a sore point referenced throughout the books and show.The 110th is the backbone of multiple storylines, especially Season 2, adapted from Bad Luck and Trouble, where his old unit is being hunted one by one. Season 1 opens with Reacher stepping off a Greyhound bus in Margrave, Georgia, a too-perfect small town whose suspicious tidiness turns out to be bankrolled by the Kliner Foundation's counterfeiting operation.Reacher arrives in search of a long-dead blues musician, Blind Blake, and ends up tearing the whole town's operation apart. He also learns his older brother Joe has been murdered. Joe worked for the U.S. Treasury Department, investigating currency counterfeiting, historically accurate since the Secret Service handled such cases until 2003.Reacher quickly became one of its streaming platform's biggest hits, landing in the top 3 most-watched seasons on the service for multiple years running. It prompted back-to-back renewals. Amazon Prime Video is now home to one of its flagship series alongside The Boys and The Rings of Power. Season 1 premiered in February 2022 and was renewed for Season 2 within four days. Amazon has greenlit a Neagley spin-off starring Maria Sten, plus multiple future seasons. That makes the blocked Die Trying adaptation a rare gap in the show's run.