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Tuesday
13Oct2009

Chris Pine Rumored to Be the Next Jack Ryan

DateTuesday, October 13, 2009 at 6:56PM
I'll tell you why I like this rumor: If you can reinvent Captain James T. Kirk and not just get away with it but succeed beyond the biggest expectations, I'm pretty sure you can handle Jack Ryan just fine.

That's the situation Chris Pine might be finding himself in. The break-out star from Star Trek is the leading candidate for the Tom Clancy reboot currently in development at Paramount. Variety says that the studio has big plans for Pine, including more Trek movies and D.J. Caruso's upcoming drama The Art of Making Money, which will go into production next year.

The impulse to bring back Jack Ryan is part of an industry-wide fascination with hip espionage movies, and this all goes back to The Bourne Identity. That franchise led to the revamped 007 movies with Daniel Craig, and Paramount is separately developing the Matt Helm novels for a new franchise.

Jack Ryan has been tricky, even though Paramount has had the rights all along. There has been some question about what direction to take the character, and it was announced earlier this summer that it would serve the function of a reboot, going back to a younger Ryan, younger even than the Ben Affleck iteration from The Sum of All Fears.

Since the Harrison Ford movies, the Jack Ryan brand has suffered from a bit of an identity crisis. Clearly, it's harder to be competitive if you change the principals each time out, and while we can debate whether or not other guys would make good Jack Ryans, the wait has at least led producers and the studio to an extremely viable option.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

Going younger make no sense for Jack Ryan. It didn't before and doesn't now. In fact, after the bourne series, you would think revisiting Jack Ryan is redundant.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLisa

I like Chris Pine...I like the Jack Ryan movies...however, I will have to agree with Lisa on this one. Why revisit this character? Is it because he is already established? Aren't there any other books out there worth adapting in the spy market? There has to be, right? Anyone have any suggestions that would make a good franchise? Colin?

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterW

I've been a Tom Clancy fan for years, and the Jack Ryan books have always been entertaining reading... but where, exactly, do they go to make a Jack Ryan movie with a much younger Jack Ryan? Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and Sum of All Fears have all been made, The Cardinal of the Kremlin has way too many threads tied into Hunt for Red October to really work, Debt of Honor ends with Jack Ryan becoming the President - which Chris Pine is WAY too young for - Executive Orders and The Bear and the Dragon both have Jack Ryan as President, so that leaves only Red Rabbit, which comes before ALL the other Jack Ryan novels and features young Jack Ryan. Of course, who knows - Clancy might be working on an original Jack Ryan story for the screenplay, although I sincerely doubt it.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterNotorious JMG

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