It seems that reboots are running rampant – maybe it’s because Daniel Craig made it look so damn good when he put the badass back into James Bond with Casino Royale, or maybe it’s just because it’s about time for some new blood in some of our favorite franchises. Now Jack Ryan is the newest character to go back to square one; and from the looks of things, square one is a good place to be.
First, Paramount chose Star Trek star and all-around pretty boy, Chris Pine, to step in as Ryan – the role previously carried by heavyweights Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. No offense to Ben, but the Affleck Jack Ryan lacked that grizzly punch that Ford and Baldwin brought to the series, so it’s about time a newcomer took over. Next, the studio snatched up Lost director, Jack Bender – can you say mystery and intrigue? Now, we find out they just nabbed Sherlock Holmes scribe, Anthony Peckham, for the new movie. It’s looking to be one hell of a reboot.
In case you forgot,Sherlock Holmes was action-packed and downright awesome, so yeah, putting Jack Ryan’s fate in this guy’s hands seems like a pretty good idea. Sure, he’s fairly new to the blockbuster screenwriting game, but he’s already a huge success. The Writer’s Guild of America recently gave him a huge pat on the back in the form of the coveted Paul Selvin Award for 2009’s Invictus – a film that followed Nelson Mandela’s role in the 1995 World Cup rugby championships – and Sherlock’s box office earnings pretty much speak for themselves.
So let’s add this all up. He blew us away with Sherlock, and he’s got the political aspect down after writing Invictus, and now he’s penning a political thriller about Jack Ryan’s early career in Russia against a backdrop of unrelenting terrorism? Oh this is going to be good.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
