Tom Clancy’s most famous CIA analyst, Jack Ryan is about to make a comeback and director Sam Raimi is the guy who will make it possible for his return to the silver screen.
Ever since the first film that took Clancy’s work off the page and into theaters there have been a total of three incarnations of Ryan. The first was done by Alec Baldwin in the landmark film “The Hunt for Red October.” After Baldwin bailed out of the franchise to do another project, Harrison Ford was called upon to take on the persona, and it is his performance in the next two films, “Patriot Games,” and “A Clear and Present Danger” that have stuck in the minds of most folks. In fact, Ford’s portrayal as the quick rising CIA agent was so embedded in the minds of moviegoers that when Ben Affleck was signed on to star as a younger Ryan in “The Sum of All Fears,” people simply couldn’t buy it, although most critics agree that Ben’s performance was adequate to the task. All four films were box office bonanzas.
It now appears that Paramount Pictures is in negotiations with Raimi for a new film in the franchise. He would not only direct, but also develop and adapt the Clancy creation and get several more films out of it for the studio. The goal is to try, once again, to show Ryan in his younger, more formative years as an analyst for the spy agency. However, the tone of the film will be centered on current global threats, bringing the scope of the stories into the contemporary realm.
Clancy is currently working on a new Ryan novel and no word yet if any or all of it will be part of this next film that Paramount wants ready for a 2010 release. Even though Clancy owns the novel rights to the Ryan character, Paramount holds exclusive rights to the movie character.
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