THE TERMINAL LIST Creator Jack Carr Wants to Bring SAVAGE SON to the Big Screen
Fans of The Terminal List universe might have more to look forward to than just streaming series. WithThe Terminal List: Dark Wolf on the horizon and Season 2 of the flagship show in development, series creator and author Jack Carr has his sights set on something bigger… a full-blown feature film.
Carr recently shared in an interview with ComicBook that he’s eager to bring one of the most beloved novels in his James Reece saga to theaters. The book he has in mind is Savage Son.
“Savage Son really lends itself to a film,” Carr explained. “We can always do it as a series, but it really lends itself, out of all the books, to a film. So I would love to see us experiment with that and bring something to the big screen.
“We saw the first episodes [of Dark Wolf] last night, in a packed theater, on a big screen, and most people are going to see it on smaller screens. But on the big screen, it was incredible! It’s such a different experience from how I’ve seen it up to this point, which was a much smaller screen.
“We are essentially making movies that people watch on television. To actually do one that’s actually made for the big screen would be incredible, and Savage Son, my third novel, really lends itself, as far as acts go and the action goes and the story goes, to an hour-and-a-half to two-hour film.”
That cinematic mindset lines up perfectly with Chris Pratt, who not only leads the Prime Video adaptation but has expressed interest in expanding the franchise into a full Jack Carr Cinematic Universe.
In Savage Son, Reece is recovering from brain surgery in the remote wilds of Montana after the events of True Believer. His attempt at a quiet recovery is shattered when the Russian mafia and a rogue CIA officer put a bounty on his head.
What follows is a deadly game of cat and mouse as Reece, now the hunted, is pursued through rugged terrain by a sadistic Russian operative. It’s a stripped-down, primal survival story, perfect for a tightly-paced action thriller.
While fans wait to see if Savage Son makes its way to theaters, there’s already something new for them to dive into. The upcoming prequel series The Terminal List: Dark Wolf isn’t based on a novel. Instead, it’s a completely original story developed with Carr’s direct involvement, marking a unique shift in the franchise’s creative process.
Carr even had plans to reverse-engineer the usual formula and write a novelization of Dark Wolf, but another project slowed things down.
“I’m writing this other book, called Cry Havoc, which is [about] James Reese’s dad, Vietnam, 1968,” Carr explained. “I planned to be done with that on December 1st last year. But I’m writing every single character and every single line through the lens of 1968, which really made it a historical thriller. I did not anticipate how much time that was going to take. Hence, the book coming out on October 7th.”
Still, Carr isn’t giving up on the idea of turning Dark Wolf into a novel.
“My plan was to write a novelization based on the scripts and figure out that piece and have the book launch in conjunction with the show,” Carr added. “That would have been really fun to do. I have a new plan now, I’ll keep that to myself now, a new plan as we move towards a possible second season of Dark Wolf. Because once you get to the end, you realize there’s more road to go down as we explore the Ben Edwards character.”
The Terminal List: Dark Wolf hits Prime Video on August 27th, and with Carr’s ever-growing plans, it seems like James Reece’s journey is far from over. Whether it’s on TV, in theaters, or on the page, this universe is expanding fast, and I’m excited to see what’s next and where the story goes!