REACHER is the most watched title on Prime Video 2023

REACHER’ is now the most watched title on Prime Video this year.

In fact, Prime Video’s three biggest original series in the past two-plus years, as measured by Nielsen — Reacher, The Wheel of Time and The Boys (season two) — are based on books. Shows like Bosch, which ended its seven-season run on Prime in 2021, and Jack Ryan also have best-sellers as their source material.

And of course, Amazon Studios, led by Jennifer Salke, has placed a huge bet on a series based on one of the best-known novels of the past century: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. That series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, is scheduled to premiere in September. One possibly encouraging sign for the very expensive Rings of Power: the numbers for Wheel of Time. The first season delivered about 4.9 billion minutes of viewing time in the U.S. over the course of its run in late 2021 (and a couple weeks after, when it lingered in Nielsen’s top 10 streaming originals rankings).

With Jack Reacher always on the move, a new supporting cast was introduced in Season 2, though Ritchson was joined by Maria Sten reprising her role as Frances Neagley. Newcomers making up the Season 2 cast of supporting players include Serinda Swan (Inhumans) as Karla Dixon, Shaun Sipos (The Vampire Diaries) as David O’Donnell, Ferdinand Kingsley (The Sandman) as A.M., Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) as Shane Langston, Domenick Lombardozzi (Oz) as Guy Russo, and Shannon Kook (The 100) as Tony Swan. 

Viewership is clearly very high for Reacher Season 2, but its success also extends to its critical reception. The new season debuted with a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and the score remains unchanged with more and more positive reviews coming in. CBR’s Joshua M. Patton praised the premiere episode as well, appreciating how the season opener didn’t waste any time putting Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher back in action. The positive reviews follow what was also a highly acclaimed first season, with Season 1 currently sitting with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92% fresh.