One Shot to Open in Theaters December 21st, 2012

In a sure sign of confidence in its film, Paramount has moved up the release date for the film adaptation of Lee Child's 2005 Jack Reacher thriller One Shot to December 21st, 2012. (World War Z was currently slated to be released on this date by the studio, but it has been moved to June 21st, 2013.)

The film stars Tom Cruise as Reacher. What we know about the film's storyline seems to follow the overall plot of the book:

Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me.

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.

One Shot is directed by Christopher McQuarrie — who won an Academy Award for his original screenplay The Usual Suspects — from an adapted screenplay co-written with Josh Olson.