Tom Cruise took author`s blessing for `Jack Reacher`

London: Actor Tom Cruise, who will next be seen in the action-packed film `Jack Reacher`, based on the bestselling novel by Lee Child, says he sought the writer`s blessing before taking on the project.

For Cruise, Child`s stamp of approval was important. "Firstly, I`m very sensitive to it. This is Lee`s book and Lee`s character. His blessing was crucial to me. If he hadn`t, I wouldn`t have done it," the 50-year-old said in a statement. Written and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Christopher Mcquarrie, `Jack Reacher` also features Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall, Richard Jenkins And Werner Herzog. The movie is co-produced by Tom Cruise, Don Granger, Paula Wagner and Gary Levinsohn. The actor also says he was thrilled to play the character of Reacher. "Reacher is such a great character. He doesn`t have a cell phone, he doesn`t have email. He`s an analog guy in a digital age. He`s off the grid. He pays for things in cash. People look at things through the prism of the colours of their life, but Jack Reacher does things the way we want to sometimes. In that sense, he`s sort of a Dirty Harry, a James Bond, a Josey Wales," said Cruise. `Jack Reacher` is releasing Dec 28. IANS