The Jack Reacher films were a great success, but there was one thing about them that many fans of the books could never quite accept: Tom Cruise's height.

In Lee Child's 2005 novel, One Shot, the character of Jack, an ex-US Army military police officer who leaves to investigate suspicious crimes, is described as being 6ft 5in tall, with hands the size of dinner plates. So, for a lot of readers, Cruise's 5ft 7in stature wasn't going to cut it.

Now, however, it has been announced that the action hero would be getting a TV reboot, this time without Cruise, who according to the author of the book, was just too short for the role.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, writer Lee Child claimed that the move wasn't at all a reflection of the 56-year-old's talents, stating that Cruise simply couldn't offer the enormous stature that the role called for.

"I really enjoyed working with Cruise," he said. "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."

He continued: "Instead we're going to take it to Netflix or something like that. Long form streaming television, with a completely new actor. And I want all those readers who were upset about Tom Cruise to help me out - participate in choosing the right actor for the TV series. We're rebooting and starting over and we're going to try and find the perfect guy."

It is likely that readers out there will be happy with the change; there have been complaints about Cruise's suitability to play the imposing former major since casting was announced in 2011.

As the news that the Mission Impossible actor would be replaced got out, fans took to Twitter to share their views on the matter. Many agreed that the father-of-three was too small to play the role, but heralded him for his stellar performance.

"Agree Tom cruise was too short to play Jack Reacher but to be fair, he did a good job. Excited to see who is going to replace him," wrote Twitter user @imaravind07.

However, others blasted the move, claiming that the A-lister's stature was of little matter.

"So Tom Cruise being replaced as Jack Reacher for being too short but Hugh Jackman was allowed to be Wolverine for 50 years, even though he was too tall?" argued @havehopehut.

So, will you tuning into the new Jack Reacher show without Tom Cruise?

The Jack Reacher films were a great success, but there was one thing about them that many fans of the books could never quite accept: Tom Cruise's height.

In Lee Child's 2005 novel, One Shot, the character of Jack, an ex-US Army military police officer who leaves to investigate suspicious crimes, is described as being 6ft 5in tall, with hands the size of dinner plates. So, for a lot of readers, Cruise's 5ft 7in stature wasn't going to cut it.

Now, however, it has been announced that the action hero would be getting a TV reboot, this time without Cruise, who according to the author of the book, was just too short for the role.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, writer Lee Child claimed that the move wasn't at all a reflection of the 56-year-old's talents, stating that Cruise simply couldn't offer the enormous stature that the role called for.

"I really enjoyed working with Cruise," he said. "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."

He continued: "Instead we're going to take it to Netflix or something like that. Long form streaming television, with a completely new actor. And I want all those readers who were upset about Tom Cruise to help me out - participate in choosing the right actor for the TV series. We're rebooting and starting over and we're going to try and find the perfect guy."

It is likely that readers out there will be happy with the change; there have been complaints about Cruise's suitability to play the imposing former major since casting was announced in 2011.

As the news that the Mission Impossible actor would be replaced got out, fans took to Twitter to share their views on the matter. Many agreed that the father-of-three was too small to play the role, but heralded him for his stellar performance.

"Agree Tom cruise was too short to play Jack Reacher but to be fair, he did a good job. Excited to see who is going to replace him," wrote Twitter user @imaravind07.

However, others blasted the move, claiming that the A-lister's stature was of little matter.

"So Tom Cruise being replaced as Jack Reacher for being too short but Hugh Jackman was allowed to be Wolverine for 50 years, even though he was too tall?" argued @havehopehut.

So, will you tuning into the new Jack Reacher show without Tom Cruise?