After attempting to win back audiences in the underrated action-comedy caper Knight and Day, Tom Cruise is getting back into his full-on blockbuster thriller mode. He has Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol coming out later this fall, featuring Jeremy Renner as his apprentice, and then another sci-fi film from Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski titled Oblivion.
Before that $100 million project gears up in January, Deadline reports that he is negotiating with Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions to make another project. The film in question is the thriller One Shot, based on a novel in Lee Child‘s popular book series following Jack Reacher, a “military policeman-turned-drifter.”
The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie is planning to direct, based on his own script. If Cruise decides to star, this would mark the second collaboration for the duo, after Bryan Singer‘s Valkyrie in 2008. Many fans may be upset, considering the title character is 6-feet 5-inches, when Cruise is nearly a foot underneath that. Then again, I believe if it benefits the film there is no problem making changes. Child agrees as well, stating “Reacher’s size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way.”
It is reported that Cruise has had invested interested in the 40 millions copies sold franchise, optioning the book five years ago. Described as a “no-frills” character of little belongings, check out the synopsis of the One Shot novel below.
In an innocent heartland city, five are shot dead by an expert sniper for no apparent reason. One of the dead is intended to die but the others are killed to disguise and confuse. The police quickly identify and arrest the alleged culprit, and build a slam-dunk case with iron-clad evidence. But the accused man claims he’s innocent and asks for the assistance of Jack Reacher. Reacher, who had previously investigated this man in the Army, is curious and decides to investigate the ostensibly open-and-shut case, and soon finds himself involved in a complex cover-up.
I absolutely think that Cruise still has what it takes to be an action movie star. If you need further proof, check out comments from producer J.J. Abrams, followed by director Brad Bird on Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (via /Film and MTV, respectively). I know they are heavily involved in the project, but it is nice to hear some tidbits, biased or not.
It’s going great. Brad Bird directed an incredibly fun movie. To watch him do his first live-action movie is kind of surreal because you see these moments that are really funny, and specific and about character — and you think, “WOW, that’s so Brad Bird”… but then you think, “God, I’ve never seen a Brad Bird live action movie, ever.” So its a weird thing to see stuff that feels… He’s a great filmmaker who just happens to have been using the tools of animation. It’s going great. And the IMAX footage in particular is looking INSANE.
“It’s big and it is crazy,” Bird said. “I think the craziest thing is that they’re real they’re not digital. That’s Tom Cruise on the tallest building in the world, he’s doing all that stuff,” Bird said of Cruise’s death-defying stunts. “People won’t believe it, but we shot it in IMAX so it’s there for everyone to see.”
In knowing the high insurance premiums and risk of allowing your A-list talent to attempt such cinematic feats, we wondered if Bird had to try and talk him out of any stuntwork.
“He actually lives for that stuff. He loves it,” Bird said. “Loves it. The day we finished shooting on the Burj, everyone suddenly relaxed because nothing had happened, no one had gotten injured or died, and the only one who was bummed out was Tom because he had to come down from the building. He loves that stuff.”
Bird went on to say that he’s just plain old excited to be helming his first live-action feature, but it doesn’t mean the end of his career in animation.
“I like films. I’m not moving away from animation,” he assured us. “I hope to do it all, like a big salad bar, where I love [and get to try] everything.”
Ghost Protocol hits this December and if One Shot gets fast-tracked, expect a shoot in Pittsburgh this fall.
What do you think about Cruise continuing down the action road?