If there was an Oscar for most bizarre news of the year, surely this would be a shoo-in for a nomination. Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to cast Werner Herzog as the villain in Tom Cruise’s next vehicle? It’s so insane it just might work…

According to Variety Herzog will play the villain The Zec in One Shot, an adaptation of the novel by Lee Child. Part of the Jack Reacher series, Tom Cruise will play Reacher, the ex US military officer who now roams his country and ends up getting into all sorts of trouble. In this film, the first adaptation of the series (even though the book is the sixth), Reacher investigates a sniper accused of murder. Herzog’s character will play the man behind the big conspiracy.The films is written and directed by Chris McQuarrie (who wrote the latest Mission Impossible film and The Tourist)

Herzog has of course acted before, whether playing a version of himself in Incident at Loch Ness or in Julian Donkey-Boy as a domineering dad. But most of us know (or should know) him as a documentary and feature film director, often obsessed with the stager individuals and phenomena in this world. Those unfamiliar should check out Fitzcarraldo and Grizzly Man immediately.