Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher sequel opens next week. Which isn’t too far away. And I feel like it’s been pretty quiet, as Tom Cruise promotional tours go. Normally, when Tom Cruise is promoting a movie, you can’t avoid him jumping out of airplanes and hitting 8 cities in 10 hours, or something equally insane. That said, everything feels quiet right now since GRAB THEM BY THE PUSSY! has become everyone’s favourite catchphrase.

Anyway, Tom and Cobie Smulders were in Shanghai today and Beijing yesterday pushing the movie overseas where they’re hoping to make back most of their money. So they need people of colour to PAY to see the movies, they just don’t want people of colour to BE in the movies?

Never mind. Let’s not get serious in a Tom Cruise post. Tom Cruise movies are about mindless escape and running (although I do wonder if any reporter will ask him about the US election when the press tour comes back to North America). And this post is supposed to about the Jack Reacher marketing strategy which… I’m kinda into it. It’s making me laugh. They’re leaning into the EXTRA-ness of Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher and, well, this is working for me. Like this:


This one is even better – Reacher Math:


But that’s good, right? Isn’t it good?

They’re also releasing clips called What Would Jack Reacher Do?

I mean, I don’t know about the long-term effects of turning your franchise into a parody – it’s starting to look like a Ben Stiller joke at this point – but, right now, I appreciate Tom Cruise having a sense of humour about Tom Cruise. Or the people selling Tom Cruise using Tom Cruise as a punchline.