Variety is reporting that Chris Pine, who most recently starred in Paramount's reboot of the Star Trek franchise, is in negotiations to take on yet another favored franchise. Pine is set to nail down the role of CIA agent Jack Ryan, a role made famous through numerous Tom Clancy novels and a handful of big screen adventures. Paramount had been looking for a fresh face to take on the role ever since Ben Affleck's lukewarm reception in 2002's The Sum of All Fears. Up until that point, the Ryan role had been played by Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford.
Paramount had this to say on the possible signing yesterday...
"Tom Clancy created an unforgettable character with Jack Ryan. With Chris in this role, we've taken our first step in creating a re-boot that lives up to the successful lineage of the franchise."
Chris Pine is going to be one busy dude, as this marks his second major franchise with the company. No word on a start date, but there isn't going to be much time for Pine to do much else other than work over the next few years. He can be seen next in the Denzel Washington actioner, Unstoppable. I lost my interest in anything Clancy related after The Sum of All Fears. Ben Affleck was just...horrible. Never really bought him as an action hero. Pine definitely has the look, but I like my CIA agents a bit more grizzled. We'll see how this goes.
