A new rumor has surfaced that sounds just as ridiculous as the possibility of Ben Affleck taking over the shoes of Harrison Ford’s Jack Ryan… Wait? What? That happened? When? The Sum of all Fears? Shit, I saw that! It was a Jack Ryan flick? Hmmm… maybe there is a possibility Paramount will want to continue to sabotage the once loved Tom Clancy character yet again.
The new rumor I am referring to has come from Moviehole, the Aussie king of rumors where they are saying the following:
Philip Noyce himself tells us that neither he or Harrison Ford are returning to the Jack Ryan series – but a new Jack Ryan movie is in the works… and it’ll star Ryan Gosling! (at least that’s what the filmmaker’s heard). Noyce WAS attached to direct “By Any Mean’s Necessary”, briefly last year, but he’s no longer involved.
This was an update to an article they posted earlier saying a new Jack Ryan tale (you remember Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger) was in the works and possibly with Harrison Ford back in the lead. The original scoop said the film would not be based on a Clancy novel, would be titled By Any Means Necessary and was going to be a direct sequel to Clear and Present Danger. Based on the fact Ford won’t be back and Gosling is apparently up for the role that all sounds like BS to me.
What they need to do is tackle “Without Remorse” with a kick ass director and bonafide star in the lead role as Jack Ryan. I would be willing to accept someone like a Billy Crudup or Mark Ruffalo in the role. The person doesn’t need to be an action star, they need to come off as intelligent and not entirely clean cut.
Late last year Paramount sent me the HD DVD Jack Ryan Collection, but since it was all effed up, due to the special features being dropped, the set was never released and I never did my “Who is the Best Jack Ryan?” feature, which was going to also serve as my HD DVD review.
Personally I think Alec Baldwin was a perfect Ryan in Hunt for Red October. He came off as a perfect greenhorn and was just convincing enough to pull off some of the action. Harrison Ford was a decent successor, but his films didn’t quite match the impressive nature of October so he is a close second and then Affleck in Sum of all Fears admittedly wasn’t awful, but it was the worst script of the four and ultimately the worst of the bunch as a result. Affleck was also too cleancut for the role, Liev Schriber would have been better even though he made a great John Clark.
As for this Gosling rumor, Ryan certainly isn’t clean cut, but he is too much of a weak looking character if you ask me. None of his roles have ever inspired me enough to think he could pull off such a weighty role. Now Crudup and Ruffalo on the other hand would be masters. Or, imagine this, Robert Downey Jr. as Ryan…? Okay, that probably wouldn’t work, but I just want more Downey… so sue me.
As for that Jack Ryan HD DVD set, I think Paramount is trying to get it put together for later this year with the features intact, no official word yet though.
