Jack Ryan Returning to Film

As reported yesterday, Sam Raimi has abandoned beloved Tom Clancy icon Jack Ryan. The director was attached to reboot the Ryan franchise, but had to bow out to focus on his upcoming Spider-Man sequels.

"Because I’m committed to Spider-Man and making that picture," said Raimi, "I think it’s going to knock me out of the running for the Jack Ryan picture."

Luckily for the spy thriller hero, Raimi’s departure doesn’t necessitate a bullet in the back of Ryan’s brain. According to Moviehole, there are still active plans to launch a reboot. In fact, with Raimi officially off the project, it looks like Ryan will grace the big screen sooner than expected.

"Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mace Neufeld have been rehired by Paramount as producers on the franchise, with a mandate to come up with a Jack Ryan original ASAP," a source close to Paramount tells the Web site. By Any Means Necessary, the film Raimi planned to reboot the Jack Ryan character, "has been abandoned."

di Bonaventura (Transformers) was previously involved with By Any Means Necessary. Neufeld, meanwhile, has produced every Ryan installment to date from The Hunt for Red October to The Sum of All Fears. He’s overseen three different actors portray the role of Jack Ryan: Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October), Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) and Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears). Moviehole wants Harrison Ford to return to the franchise, which is a possibility as the film "may feature an ‘older’ Ryan as opposed to a younger version." It’d be cool to have Ford back in the series, but that would leave Liev Schrieber, who played a younger version of Ryan’s CIA operative pall John Clark in Sum of All Fears. Schrieber was one of the few excellent elements of that film. Willem Dafoe played the role in Clear and Present Danger.

Jack Ryan first appeared in Tom Clancy’s novel The Hunt for Red October in 1984. Since then, he’s elevated from lowly CIA operative to National Security Advisor. In Debt of Honor, Ryan is tapped for the Office of Vice President and is later elevated to the Presidency after his predecessor is assassinated. In the Clancy universe, Ryan is currently retired.