Say the words "Tom Clancy" and ex-military granddads, cigar smoking fathers, and guys dream of going on special ops missions themselves will come out of the woodwork. Or at least theoretically. The character of Jack Ryan had a pretty good run in the ’90s thanks to "The Hunt For Red October," "Patriot Games," "Clear And Present Danger," and to a lesser extent in the early aughts with, "The Sum Of All Fears." And then there was last year’s "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit," an attempt to reboot the character in an unfortunately tame and fairly lackluster movie where the big threat was the ruin of the U.S. economy (though it hardly seems gripping considering politicians and bankers are doing that just fine on their own). But like any valuable property, there will be another kick at the can.
READ MORE: Ranked: Tom Clancy Movies, From Worst To Best
"Lost" pair Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland, Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes, Skydance Media and Paramount TV, are all joining forces to bring Jack Ryan to TV. The show won’t be based on any particular novel, but instead be inspired by Clancy’s works, finding the CIA analyst/operative already fully operational within the CIA. And if you’re wondering why anyone is bothering after ‘Shadow Recruit’ — which earned a pitiful $50 million at the box office, was the lowest grossing of the series, and failed to launch a brand new trilogy (and possible spinoff for Kevin Costner) — the five Jack Ryan movies to date have collectively earned over $1 billion worldwide, so there’s an audience out there.
Thoughts? Can Jack Ryan work in a weekly or episodic format? Hollywood thinks so, and apparently there is a lot of interest in the project, but let us know what you think below. [Deadline]
