The trailer was released today for the newly subtitled Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Come Christmas day Chris Pine (Star Trek) will join the ranks of Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October), Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) and Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears) in playing the late Tom Clancy’s CIA analyst Jack Ryan on the big screen. Pine is joined by British actress Keira Knightley as Ryan’s wife, Cathy. Kevin Costner and Kenneth Branagh also star.
The new film will be a reboot rather than a sequel and, while it will feature Tom Clancy’s characters, the story is an original one written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible) and Adam Cozad. In the film, Ryan uncovers a Russian sceme to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack. Kenneth Branagh will pull double duty, playing the villain as well as directing the film.
Branagh, though he’s a more accomplished actor than director, has made a habit of hopping from in front of the camera to behind it, going back to 1989 when he made his feature directorial debut with an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V. In fact, the Bard’s work seems something of a passion for Branagh; he’s appeared in and/or directed adaptations of Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and As You Like It. His most recent work as a director was on Thor, although he’s currently shooting Disney’s live action Cinderella.
Audiences as-yet unfamiliar with Jack Ryan’s exploits have time yet to catch up – Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit comes to theaters December 25.
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