Paramount is set to bring back the legendary Jack Ryan, the popular Tom Clancy character played in 1990 by Alec Baldwin (The Hunt For Red October), in 1992 and 1994 by Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger), and in 2002 by Ben Affleck (The Sum Of All Fears). This time he returns with Chris Pine (Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness) playing the classic hero.

Jack Ryan is the first in the action/thriller franchise that is not being scripted directly from a Tom Clancy novel. It is neither a direct reboot nor a completely original concept. Scribes Adam Cozad (his first film credit), and David Koepp (Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park, Spider-Man), delve into Ryan’s history for the story.

Directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh (currently on stage starring in Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the Manchester International Festival), the film picks up when Ryan is in his pre-CIA days, working on Wall Street as a financial adviser for Merrill Lynch. Events are set in motion when he travels to Moscow to work for a mysterious billionaire and is framed as a traitor.

Sir Kenneth Branagh on the set of ‘Jack Ryan’.

The billionaire turns out to be Branagh himself, an evil man behind a terrorist plot to destroy the US. Ryan must race against time to prove his innocence, prevent the terrorist scheme, and rescue his fiance, played by Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice, Anna Karenina).

Kevin Costner and Chris Pine on the set of ‘Jack Ryan’.

Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves, The Hatfield’s and McCoy’s) plays a true blue patriot mentoring Ryan.

Jack Ryan premieres Christmas Day. You know, because of all the warm fuzzies terrorists bring, and so there would be snow on the ground in Moscow.