Christopher McQuarrie Talks Jack Reacher

Itinerant megabadass Jack Reacher, a modern-day ronin with a head like the inside of a Swiss watchmaker's studio and a thirst for justice, is coming - scratch that, storming - towards our screens. And we have the first shot of Tom?Cruise as Lee?Child's iconic hero, from the forthcoming movie of the same name (Jack Reacher, not Lee?Child's Iconic Hero).

What's more - if you pick up the new issue of Empire, in which the shot made its debut, you can read the thoughts of Cruise and McQuarrie on the challenges of bringing Child's bone-crunching badass to the big screen.?And yes, McQuarrie talks about the disparity in size from the Reacher of the books. "That's to confuse character with characteristics," laughs McQuarrie. "I?don't think there was a Wolverine that satisfied the fans, and there wasn't a Jason?Bourne that matched everyone's interpretations. Right from the outset, I?thought, 'let's get the character down on paper' and then see who's the best person to bring the movie forward."

For more from McQuarrie and?Cruise on Jack Reacher, from the decision to make One Shot (the ninth Reacher book) Reacher's big screen debut ("It's the one movie where the story starts before Reacher enters") and the casting of Werner Herzog as the bad guy, The Zec ("I?wanted him to feel like he was a real monster!") and, indeed, Reacher's brutal physicality ("He is absolutely ruthless and devastating"), pick up the new issue of Empire (now on sale for print and iPad).

You can also head over to last year's Lee Child's webchat transcript for the thoughts of the Reacher author on Cruise and the movie itself.

Jack Reacher is out on December 28.

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