The last time we saw F.B.I. profiler Alex Cross on the big screen, he was played by Morgan Freeman in both Kiss the Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001). The franchise, inspired by novels of author James Patterson, were subsequently rebooted in 2012 with Tyler Perry in the lead role. Alex Cross attempts to establish the origins of the character and explore a pivotal case he investigated while a detective in Detroit. Alex Cross and his partners Tommy Kane (Edward Burns) and Monica Ashe (Rachel Nichols) cross swords with a serial killer they dub Picasso (Matthew fox), who is murdering the business associates of French Industrialist Mercier (Jean Reno). During the course of the investigation it becomes clear that the killer has a specific interest in Cross himself.