That headline is a total inside joke. If you haven't played the Clancy video games, it probably doesn't make much sense. "Rainbow Six," "Ghost Recon" and "Splinter Cell" are all tremendously popular game franchises. They are also, as I argued earlier this week, a good reason why we can expect to see more Clancy on film in the near future.
The earlier post grew out of an Anne Thompson piece on Variety concerning the possibility of George Clooney stepping into Clancy's Jack Ryan character, a role previously occupied by Alec Baldwin ("The Hunt for Red October"), Harrison Ford ("Patriot Games," "Clear & Present Danger") and Ben Affleck ("The Sum of All Fears"), respectively. Now Thompson is reporting that Paramount and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura are waiting on a script for something called "Untitled Tom Clancy Project," a title which I imagine will change at some point.
Thompson reveals that the script-in-progress is being penned by Hossein Amini, who most recently adapted Elmore Leonard's book "Killshot." She also says that Clooney has indeed been considered for a Ryan role, but these are just early thoughts. The actor would need to see a script and the director; meanwhile, the studio could still decide to skew younger/older with their choice. In other words, Clooney is available and he's a superstar so of course he's in contention. But nothing's been decided, nothing at all.
Of course, there's also always the possibility that Amini's script has nothing at all to do with Ryan. In case the wide range of video game series' don't spell it out, there are plenty of Clancy properties to choose from for a silver screen treatment. Thompson mentions that Paramount was at one point planning a "Vietnam era thriller" focusing on a sideline character in the Ryan series (Willem Dafoe's role in "Present Danger").
I've never actually read a single Clancy book, but I've always been a fan of the various film and game properties. I still think it would be cool to see Clooney step in as Jack Ryan, but just knowing that another Clancy movie's in the works is enough for me.
Any wishes, hopes or dreams for the next Clancy project? Do you want to see more Ryan, or do you think he should be put to rest? If more Ryan is in the cards, is Clooney the right choice?
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