Tom Cruise may be adding yet another “starring role in an action-centered film†to his list, this time with Christopher McQuarrie’s adaptation of Lee Child’s One Shot. The book is part of a series which centers on Jack Reacher, a former military police officer-turned drifter. Deadline reports that Cruise is now in talks to star in the thriller, which Paramount hopes to turn into a series. McQuarrie, best known as the screenwriter of The Usual Suspects and Bryan Singer’s upcoming Jack the Giant Killer, will be directing from a script he wrote.Cruise is also attached to star in Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi flick Oblivion. The current plan, if the deal pans out, is for Cruise to film One Shot this fall before moving on to Oblivion which starts production in January. I’m liking Cruise’s choices as of late. I thought Knight and Day was a smart move back into more action-oriented fare, and he’s assembled a top-notch team for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. He’s currently filming Adam Shankman’s musical adaptation Rock of Ages. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of One Shot.
Here’s the synopsis for One Shot:
The final sentence of Child's ninth suspenser (after The Enemy)—"Then he could buy a pair of shoes and be just about anywhere before the sun went down"—is quintessential Jack Reacher, the rugged ex-army cop who practically defines the word "loner" and kicks ass with the best of 'em. In the book's gripping opening, five people are killed when a shooter opens fire in a small unnamed Indiana city. But when ex-infantry specialist James Barr is apprehended, he refuses to talk, saying only, "Get Jack Reacher for me." But Reacher's already en route; having seen a news story on the shooting, he heads to the scene with disturbing news of his own: "[Barr's] done this before. And once was enough." Nothing is what it seems in the riveting puzzle, as vivid set pieces and rapid-fire dialogue culminate in a slam-bang showdown in the villains' lair. (And what villains: a quintet of Russian émigrés, the stuff of everybody's worst nightmares, led by a wily 80-year-old who makes Freddy Krueger look like Little Lord Fauntleroy.) As usual, Child makes the most of Reacher's dry wit, cut-to-the-chase psychology and stubborn taciturnity—in short, this is a vintage double play for author and leading man. [Amazon]