| It’s been a while since we heard any concrete news about Paramount and Sam Raimi’s revamp of the Jack Ryan franchise, but today brought several bags of cement’s worth. First of all, it’s now just Paramount’s revamp of the Jack Ryan franchise – Raimi has left the project due to a heavy workload, including completing his new movie, Drag Me To Hell and starting work on Spider-Man 4. Also, a writer has been hired to give Ryan the Batman Begins/Casino Royale reboot treatment. Hossein Amini, who has written movies as diverse as The Four Feathers, the still-delayed Killshot and Shanghai, has been brought on board by producers Mace Neufeld and Lorenzo di Bonaventura with the brief to write a Ryan origin tale that will have little or nothing to do with Tom Clancy’s novels. The new movie will obviously involve a new Jack Ryan – the fourth after Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck - and we reckon that Paramount will want to go with a big name. After all, while the Ryan franchise has been lucrative, it’s not a name that carries the instant appeal of a Batman or a Bond. And while we can understand the reasoning behind a complete revamp of the character, we’re a little sad that Ford won’t be stepping into Ryan’s shoes again, for he would have been perfect for Executive Orders, in which Ryan becomes President of the United States. However, given that he does so after a terrorist wipes out Congress, the current President and most of the government with an airplane, we can see why Paramount might have balked at turning it into a movie. So, readers - excited by this? Any thoughts on who could play the new Jack Ryan? Or, indeed, direct the movie in Raimi's absence? Answers below...
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