Feast your eyes on the first image of the rather dapper looking villain (and director) of upcoming Jack Ryan movie, Kenneth Branagh. Though we saw a glimpse of the director/actor in yesterday’s photos, today we get our first official look.
The new movie to feature Tom Clancy’s hero Jack Ryan will be called, in a move of creative genius, Jack Ryan. For those keeping score, the character has already been played by three separate actors.
Ben Affleck portrayed him in The Sum of All Fears, Alec Baldwin in The Hunt for Red October and Harrison Ford in both Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.
Personally, I found all these films enjoyable action romps and would expect the same from the upcoming movie featuring Chris Pine as the titular hero, who has already proven his action credentials in Star Trek and Unstoppable.
The film will be the first in the series not adapted from an existing novel and will also star Keira Knightly as a love interest, Kevin Costner as a mentor figure and James Earl Jones possibly reprising his previous role in the franchise.
Branagh, who most recently was seen prancing around in a silly hat pretending to be Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the Olympic opening ceremony, has shown that he can handle directing action with Thor and so should be safe hands for the franchise. He is also a fantastic actor and so the villain role should be easy work. I’m not certain what his evil master plan is, but judging by the photo it may involve putting iconic tourist attractions into soft focus…the fiend.
The film is currently shooting and will be in cinemas next December. So unfortunately, you still have a year before you can see Kenneth Branagh looking stern and talking on a phone up on the big screen.
Are you looking forward to seeing a new take on Jack Ryan or would you rather have seen one of the old Ryans back in the field? Let us know in the comments.
