Tom Cruise has signed on to portray retired military policeman turned crime-fighting drifter Jack Reacher in the upcoming Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions action film ‘One Shot,’ Collider is reporting. The movie, which will be based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novel series, will follow the character as he investigates a suspected sniper who shot five seemingly innocent victims. ‘One Shot,’ which will be written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, is expected to shoot in Pittsburgh, though the story is set to take place in the Midwest.

Fans of the novel series have questioned Paramount’s decision to hire Cruise, as Jack is described as being six-and-a-half feet tall and weighing 250 pounds. But Child supports the actor’s casting as Jack, who is also described as being patient, but brutal with villains. Child has said that Jack’s “size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way.”

The news of Cruise’s casting comes as the third sequel in his hit Paramount action series ‘Mission: Impossible,’ titled ‘Ghost Protocol,’ is scheduled to be released into theaters on December 16, 2011. He has also been cast as ’80’s rock star Stacee Jaxx in director Adam Shankman’s theatrical adaptation of the hit Broadway play ‘Rock of Ages.’

Written by: Karen Benardello