Yes. You read that correctly. In what is one of the most obscure and brilliant casting choices ever, maverick Bavarian filmmaker Werner Herzog will play the villain in the upcoming adaptation of Lee Child’s thriller One Shot. Variety broke the news a short while ago and now has me very, very excited to see the film.
One Shot is one of the novels in the long line of Jack Reacher thrillers written by Child. Tom Cruise will play the ex-military policeman Reacher, who is assigned to investigate the case of a sniper accused of killing five people. Herzog plays Zec, an ex-prisoner of war who is behind a massive conspiracy as well as the murders. Herzog has acted before, but usually for fellow filmmakers with whom he is friends. Most famously he has featured in a couple of Harmony Korine‘s masturbatory self indulgence fests such as Julien Donkey Boy and Mister Lonely, about which he was the best thing.
One Shot will mark his first real foray into big time Hollywood, even throughout his directorial career he has remained solidly independent and all too un-Hollywood. Even so, it will be film magic to see what he does with the part, hopefully bringing his bizarre dead pan humour and that glazed, haggard look that suggests he’s on the tipping point of psychosis.
The film is currently shooting under Christopher McQuarrie, who has taken writing and directing duties, and stars Richard Jenkins, Robert Duvall and Rosamund Pike alongside Cruise and Herzog. The film is due for release in 2013.