You now have a rough date to mark on your calendar for the return of Jack Ryan, in the movie tentatively titled (you’ll never guess) Jack Ryan.  Deadline reports Paramount has scheduled the reboot for the fourth quarter of 2013, with the hope of kicking off a Jack Ryan trilogy led by Chris Pine, not to mention a spinoff that may star Tom Hardy as fellow spy John Clark.  Kenneth Branagh will direct Jack Ryan and play the villain.  Keira Knightley is the female lead, Jack’s wife Cathy.  Kevin Costner recently accepted the role as the CIA liason to Jack Ryan and John Clark, which puts Costner in both Jack Ryan and the Clark-centric spinoff Without Remorse, and may even headline his own movie in due time.

But for now, let’s focus on Jack Ryan.  

Branagh recently described the concept as “an original story that allows us to understand how Jack Ryan develops into a CIA analyst, before joining, and perhaps even joining, the CIA. It’s a very contemporary action thriller set in the here and now.”  The launching point—first mentioned in Tom Clancy‘s book The Hunt for Red October—is a helicopter crash that wiped out a Marine platoon.  The 23-year-old Ryan was the only member to survive.

Paramount has been developing the reboot since at least 2009, shortly after Pine made a big splash in Paramount’s very successful Star Trek reboot.  Over the last three years, the script has passed through the hands of several screenwriters to the point that the studio decided to let Pine shoot Star Trek 2 first, losing director Jack Bender in the process.

The last Jack Ryan movie (Ben Affleck‘s 2002 effort The Sum of All Fears) is now over a decade old.  Paramount understands the value of the property, and has taken the time to prepare their big plans for this franchise.  With the ever-charismatic Pine at the center, this could be something special.

Source: collider.com