"Blood Diamond" helmer Edward Zwick has been roped in to direct the project, reported Variety.
Zwick, 62, and Marshall Herskovitz have worked on the final draft of the the script, which was originally penned by Richard Wenk.
The sequel will be based on author Lee Child's "Never Go Back", in which Reacher travels from South Dakota to the Virginia headquarters of the US Army Military Police Corps and discovers his new commanding officer has been arrested.
Cruise, 53, and "Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation" producer Don Granger are backing the project.