Tom Cruise piqued the curiosity of those who attended the 2012 CinemaCon panel for his upcoming film, One Shot – when he referred to the project as Reacher.
Paramount has since revealed that the movie is actually going to be titled Jack Reacher. While the studio has yet to offer an official explanation for the change-up in title, it was (most likely) motivated by a desire to appeal directly to fans of the Reacher character – similar to how this fall’s rebooting installment in the Alex Cross movie franchise is simply going by the title… well, Alex Cross.
Confirmation of the One Shot adaptation’s title change comes courtesy of Risky Business. The film remains set for a Winter 2012 theatrical release, where it will fill the spot previously occupied by Paramount’s World War Z adaptation (which was pushed back to Summer 2013).
Jack Reacher is based on Lee Child’s novel “One Shot”, which is being adapted and directed for the big screen by Oscar-winner Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie). The film revolves around (who else?) Jack Reacher (Cruise) – an ex-military man, who gets pulled into a dark and dangerous murder case involving an expert military sniper who (puportedly) shot and killed five random victims. Other important players include a young defense lawyer (Rosamund Pike), a veteran detective who’s also investigating the shooting (David Oyelowo) – and a former prisoner of war, whose shady motives suggest he may have something to do with the deaths of the aforementioned innocent civilians (Werner Herzog).
Reactions to the Jack Reacher sizzle reel screened at CinemaCon were largely positive, with Cruise singled out for his effective portrayal of the title character as an intimidating anti-hero. However, that seems to have only somewhat assuaged the concerns of certain fans, who feel that the Reacher character in Child’s source material (where he is described as a 6’5”, 250 lb brute) is too heavily defined by his physical stature for someone like Cruise to play. On the opposite side of the debate is Child, who has long voiced his support for Cruise as Reacher – saying the character’s strength and size were always meant to be interpreted as a metaphor for his uncompromising mentality (which Cruise embodies, according to Child).
Of course, all that controversy is restricted to the Jack Reacher fanbase. As far as most everyone else is concerned: this project just sounds like a slightly different flavor of Tom Cruise action movie (with a fair amount of promise).
Jack Reacher is scheduled to arrive in theaters around the U.S. on December 21st, 2012.
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