Werner Herzog to play the villain in Tom Cruise's One Shot

Everything seems to be stacking up nicely for a Jack Reacher movie: action hero Tom Cruise as Reacher himself, a beautiful supporting cast in the shapes of Rosamund Pike and Alexia Fast and solid character work from Richard Jenkins. But where's the Bond -style bad guy?

Amazingly, German director Werner Herzog has been hired to fill that role in a rare turn in front of the camera.

Herzog's voice should be a familiar sound to cultured film fans, as the director has narrated documentaries such as Grizzly Man , Cave Of Forgotten Dreams and Encounters At The End Of The World .

He also appeared in the 2007 poker film The Grand .

According to The Hollywood Reporter , Herzog will play The Zec, a character from the 2005 Lee Child novel who is described as an "ageless and shadowy figure".

Christopher McQuarrie is directing from his own script.

One Shot is set to begin filming in Pittsburgh this month and opens early 2013.