While the debate will continue to swirl about how 5' 7" Tom Cruise will portray the much taller, bulkier Jack Reacher as described in the books by Lee Child remains to be seen, from day one Paramount has viewed "One Shot" as the start of a potential series of films. And now with a swift title change, it makes that a bit easier.
"One Shot" will now be known as "Jack Reacher," the character who leads 16 books by the author. We presume this opens the door to future installments that will take on a "Mission: Impossible" style treatment in the vein of "Jack Reacher: [Insert Book Title Here]." And considering the name is already a brand itself — the Lee Child books are all stamped A Jack Reacher Novel — it's actually a smart move. Granted, movies with names for titles don't always fare well (hello "John Carter" and "Simon Birch" among others) but this is one with a built-in audience and recognition, and you can believe that by the time the movie hits in December, Paramount will be making sure everyone knows exactly who he is.
To refresh your memory, the story centers on an ex-military drifter who gets caught up in a conspiracy and cover-up involving a man accused of killing five people. Oh, the best part? Werner Fucking Herzog is playing the villain. Christopher McQuarrie adapted the book and directed the film which features a pretty first rate cast all around including Robert Duvall, David Oyelowo, Richard Jenkins, Rosamund Pike, Jai Courtney and more.
"There are some ass beatings in this. They’ll see that it delivers what I love about the Reacher series: the visceral action, those ass beatings and the humor of Lee Child’s novels. And the women are fantastic," Cruise recently told Playboy.
We'll see if Cruise can deliver the goods when the film opens on December 21st. [THR, image via Collider]
I saw the free preview in Burbank last week. It was one of those "untitled movie" previews where you don't know going in what the film was going to be. The line wrapped half way around the theater two hours before they let us in, because most if us thought it was going to be The Amazing Spider-Man, or Total Recall.
When the douchebag announcer said "you're about to be the first audience in the world see…" people started cheering. Then he said "Jack Reacher, starring Tom Cruise" and the giant auditorium fell silent. You could've heard a pin drop on a cushion. Then as he continued talking, I heard (and said) "What the f— is Jack Reacher?!" people were mocking the name, someone said "two hours for this Tom cruise shit?!" The general mood of the room wasn't just uninterested, it was antagonistic. I looked around. I saw a lot of faces that seemed as angry and disappointed as mine must have been.
It's important to note all that, for context.
Because as soon as the film started, it won the room over. The opening shot (pun intended) was something Hitchcock would have done in his prime. Aside from a 3-4 minute scene that seemed too expository toward the beginning, the movie was well paced, well acted, suspenseful, the action was tense and realistic (you could almost feel how much punching another human being hurts both the punchee and the puncher, and Cruise showed a lot of vulnerability even in those action scenes. One of the most viscerally violent action scenes was also the funniest bit of comic relief in the film. And for that matter, the humor was unexpected and brilliantly executed.
In the end, People seemed satisfied. I sure was. I was glad it was this film instead of Spider-Man, because sad to say, there's no way I would've chosen to pay money to see Tom Cruise in a film called "Jack Reacher."
I hope that title doesn't dissuade moviegoers, because after seeig that, I want to see sequels.
Hey remember how they renamed a certain film John Carter and how well that worked out?
lol his buddies at blogs were complaining about other movie be violent and someone mentiond the one shot title is for killing and then this comes too quick. lol
Apparently the film has had test screenings and been testing well. What they learnt wasn't testing well was the actual title of the movie 'One Shot' (said it was too vague) so they changed it to Jack Reacher hence Tom Cruise IS Jack Reacher.
PS. When will The Playlist's review of Prometheus be up?
Never heard of Jack Reacher or the books so the title sounds rather banal and stupid to me. But then again, Tom Cruise in any film (unless it's directed by P.T. Anderson or Stanley Kubrick or someone of that stature) is an automatic NO WAY for me, stupid title or not. He long ago joined the ranks of Jim Carrey and Mel Gibson as performers I avoid at all costs.
I don't get why they always do this. Why would I go see a movie called Jack Reacher?
Let the "Reacher Round" jokes begin!
At least it's a better than JOHN CARTER. Doesn't hurt that Tom Cruise will sell a hell of a lot more tickets than Taylor Kitsch ever could.