‘Jack Reacher’ Trailer: Tom Cruise Kicks Some Ass

When Tom Cruise was cast as Jack Reacher in Christopher McQuarrie’s adaptation of Lee Child’s novel, ‘One Shot’ (which has since been retitled to ‘Jack Reacher‘), fans of the character were none too pleased. Written as a 6’5″ man with a fifty inch chest and the ability to kill his foes with a single punch, Cruise seemed all kinds of wrong for Child’s soldier-turned-drifter protagonist. With the arrival of a the first ‘Jack Reacher’ trailer, we can all see first hand how Cruise looks in the role.

It’s only a teaser , but the snippets of footage do everything in their power to present Cruise as the kind of guy who will wipe the floor with you in a fight. No one will ever deny Cruise’s athleticism (he is, after all, the master of cinematic running), but this is a character that was frequently fancast with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson by readers. Can he (literally) fill Reacher’s literary shoes?

The character of Jack Reacher has been the subject of seventeen novels and short stories, so it’s obvious that Paramount sees a potential franchise in the character. If they do want a franchise, McQuarrie (an Oscar winner for writing ‘The Usual Suspects’) is an interesting choice for the director’s seat, given his history of marching to his own drummer and despising studio interference. Still, anyone who has seen his previous directional effort, ‘The Way of the Gun,’ can attest to his confidence with cinematic action.

‘Jack Reacher’ opens on December 21, 2012.