Tom Cruise may want more than one shot at action thriller Jack Reacher

Deadline New York reports that Tom Cruise’s originally titled action thriller One Shot, named after a Lee Child novel about ex-military policeman-turned-altruistic drifter Jack Reacher, Paramount Pictures has retitled the Christopher McQuarrie-directed movie Jack Reacher. Fans of the book series may have to get used to Tom Cruise as the namesake protagonist, who in the novels goes about 6’5″ and 250 pounds, towers over opponents and beats the bad guys to a pulp.

According to the report, Cruise indicated in a Playboy interview, that all the obligatory brawls are included in the film and that Child himself endorsed Cruise to play Reacher. The title change indicates that Cruise and Paramount see Jack Reacher as franchise material, meaning Cruise may have two franchises at the studio after Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol grossed nearly $700 million worldwide.

In the novel One Shot, a heartland city is thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. But the accused man claims innocence and requests help from a man known as Jack Reacher. And sure enough, ex—military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shooter–a trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not right–and soon the slam-dunk case explodes. Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunning–and then beat him shot for shot.

Jack Reacher will be the second film directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who previously helmed the 2000 film The Way of the Gun. McQuarrie is better known as a writer, having penned scripts for 2008’s Valkyrie, the 2010 Johnny Depp/Angelina Jolie thriller The Tourist, Bryan Singer’s upcoming fantasy Jack the Giant Killer (2013), the comic-based sequel The Wolverine (2013), and the in-development Tony Scott sequel to Tom Cruise’s 1986 movie Top Gun.

Jack Reacher hits theaters on December 21, 2012.