Cool News
Kenneth Branagh Directing Himself In Jack Ryan Series Reboot!!
The Kidd here...
It's a lot easier for a director to convey to an actor what it is that they want out of a character or a scene when they are one in the same person. Things just got a little easier today for director Kenneth Branagh today in helming Paramount's Jack Ryan series reboot, as he's in talks to pull double duty and play the film's villain himself.
Branagh would be playing opposite STAR TREK's Chris Pine, the fourth such actor to tackle the character (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck being his predecessors in the role), who would be showing Ryan before he became part of the C.I.A.
According to Variety, this time, Ryan would be "an ex-Marine who works as a successful financial analyst in Moscow. He discovers a plot by his employer to finance a terrorist attack designed to collapse the U.S. economy, and must race against time to save America and his wife."
As for Branagh's role in the plot, his goal is to collapse the American economy by bottoming out the value of the U.S. dollar.
Branagh was last seen on-screen in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, which scored him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. As for being behind the camera, his last directorial effort was THOR.
-Billy Donnelly
"The Infamous Billy The Kidd"
Follow me on Twitter.
Readers Talkback
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Hunt for Red October is still the best!
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My kingdom for a dialysis machine...
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Bin! Bin! Bin!
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GADZOOKS!!!
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...I don't know about that one. Marvel must be stiffing the talent. Big shoes to fill, what with Ben Affleck's turn in the last one and all.
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'Hunt for Blue October'? Sorry, that may have been my least creative joke ever (I wish).
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that doesn't feel the least bit tense, I must not care much for his wife
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July 19, 2012, 9:46 p.m. CST
The only way I could do it is if they Connery back and bring the series full circle...
by ThulsaBoom
...oh yeah, and Harrison Ford. Nevermind, still wouldn't do it.
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July 19, 2012, 9:54 p.m. CST
RE: thulsaboom Actually Branagh left Kirk senior for his son :-)
by AnarchyWorldsEnd
Hemsworth was Kirk senior before he was Thor.
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July 19, 2012, 10:08 p.m. CST
I thought you meant Branagh as Ryan himself. I'm like, THATS a reboot? going that old with the character??
by TheSeeker7
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Cut! Cut! Cut! Did you even read the script?!
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Unless Chris Pine suddenly is able to attract people to a movie that doesn't have "Star Trek" in the title.
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No thanks.
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What with the bottoming and the collapsing and the villainy and all
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I always found John Clark to be a better character than Jack Ryan. Clark is Batman to Ryan's Superman. Ryan is ruled by a strong moral compass while Clark was never afraid to blur the lines of morality to do what was right. Without Remorse might be my favorite Clancy book.
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Are you not saying that Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves are not minorities?
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He gave the role a probing intelligence the other actors lacked. Never understood why he didn't continue on with the part.
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July 19, 2012, 10:37 p.m. CST
All they have to do is wait around, it'll happen on it's own
by twogunjames
The dollar isn't worth shit any more. I can't say I'm terribly excited to watch that plot line play out. I like Chris Pine as Jack Ryan though.
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According to Baldwin, he was pushed aside to give it to Ford because the studio owed Ford a ton of money for a film that never got made and Patriots Games was a make up movie for that film that fell apart. The studio claims, Baldwin was asking for too much script control and they could never come to an agreement.
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To our economy, I mean?
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Wasn't there a Rainbow Six adaptation in preproduction some years back?
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That's all I'm sayin'.
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July 19, 2012, 10:58 p.m. CST
James Earl Jones and Sam Jackson were in the other Jack Ryan films
by lv_426
Also, there was a black man in the role of the sonar monitoring officer in The Hunt For Red October. Of course, if Peter Jackson were directing this, the big worry would be that he'd have Andy Serkis performance capturing his role as a fully CGI Jack Ryan.
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Kidd zigs when the rest of the AICN'ers zag so I predict a RAVE bordering on "one of the best films of the year".
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What, are they going to elect a black theology, anti-American, racist, narcissistic socialistic thug to the white house?
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July 19, 2012, 11:28 p.m. CST
I was kind of hoping he'd play the main character! In any case, Branagh is awesome.
by Proman1984
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You can always count on these fucks showing up whenever something even tangentially related to politics is broached.
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July 20, 2012, 12:02 a.m. CST
raptor_jesus, your ignorance is vast, and threatens to swallow the universe
by Queefer Sutherland
I suppose you like Romney? Hell, he's as bad as Obama. Neither political party is working for us, I hope you know. If you admit that, I'll take back what I said about your ignorance. Otherwise, it will still be an accurate statement.
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July 20, 2012, 12:05 a.m. CST
And I still haven't seen a review that even MENTIONS Ann Hathaway's Giant Penis in TDKR.
by Mike McCutcheon
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That means that YKW expects deflation.
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July 20, 2012, 12:51 a.m. CST
Captain Underoos is as much a tool of the bankstas as Obama
by eumaios
Look into Romney's chief contributors. Second look at anti-usury laws?
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...for everything!
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Thou art slyer than thee!!
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He actually seems decent in the movies I've seen him in so far. I was very surprised about how entertaining This Means War was and I always smile at his part in Smokin' Aces. Especially when he places the car keys on the bitten off finger of the guy he left for dead earlier in the movie. Hopefully, he doesn't disappoint in this.
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July 20, 2012, 1:41 a.m. CST
damn ret-conning, so before the CIA but he's already married?!
by ahdvd
Pretty sure that they should be the other way around in terms of which came first?!
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At the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics next week.
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July 20, 2012, 3:31 a.m. CST
Kenneth Branagh = cool. Chris Pine = there's a reason his last name is Pine.
by kwisatzhaderach
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Check him out as Swedish Detective Kurt Wallander in the BBC series. He's fantastic - the ex theatrical shakespeare thesp has become a very good screen actor.
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I agree wallander is well worth watching. Beautiful shot and acted. The books are even better.
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Mr. Branagh is of my favourites in both acting and directing, though I haven't seen much of his output from his earlier days such as Peter friends or Henry. I did really like Dead again and Frankenstein and enjoyed Thor. I hope with him on board with this movie we may get a move away from the expected result and he think he will aim for a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy type vibe rather than slam bang action. I'm fairly optimistic for this one now, I hope he doesn't bow out from the production.
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and I really really dig Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan escapades. That said, Jack Ryan isn't much of a character for me, nothing bout him really registers other then he had some great actors playing him in some strong stories, but I've never been dying to see just Jack Ryan in more misadventures. So I do not at all see the point of "rebooting" the franchise to cast a new actor in a story that isn't based on any of Tom Clancy's novels. What's the point? Just make this an original story (which is what the screenplay originally was anyways) and don't waste time trying to needlessly retcon and rewrite stuff to force it into someone else's mythology.
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is zachary quinto playing his wife?
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July 20, 2012, 7:26 a.m. CST
This is the same plot as THE IN-LAWS! SERPENTINE, SHEL, SERPENTINE!
by m_prevette
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July 20, 2012, 7:57 a.m. CST
Chris Pine will be Fine as long as his head doesn't expand any more
by Obi Wanna Cannoli
That dude's head is freakishly big. "I am not an animal' freakishly big.
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are great films that really hold up. Strong pacing, score, performances, & plotting, & nothing really corny & "Hollywood" about them. Just a couple of righteous political action thrillers starring Indiana Jones. The machine is still on, Moira!
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July 20, 2012, 8:31 a.m. CST
The time will come when they remake "The Hunt for Red October"...
by Phimseto
...and it will pale in comparison to the original, which all these years later is still fantastic and compulsively watchable.
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July 20, 2012, 8:43 a.m. CST
Shouldn't it be about New World Order western globalists crashing the economy on purpose to create a fascist world government?
by Gary Makin
Google it.
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Jack Ryan should be played by someone who appears nerdy and weak but who rises to the occasion as the shit hits the fan. I could someone like Joaquin Pheonix pulling off a great Jack Ryan. Matt Damon could have been a good Jack Ryan, but he's gotten old and fat. You know who I could see pulling it off? I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I think Zac Efron could pull it off. He could easily portray a weaselly little pencil pusher who gets thrown into the deep end.
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Good to know this property is in good hands.
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... is this based on an actual Clancy novel? I've only read the Hunt, Cardinal, and Patriot so I'm genuinely curious to know if this is truly a part of the Jack Ryan mythos. From what I remember of Cardinal and Patriot, though, it doesn't seem to be.
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July 20, 2012, 3:31 p.m. CST
BlackMantis: "Never understood why he (Baldwin) didn't continue on with the part."
by Big Dumb Ape
>> Rob0729 answered: "According to Baldwin, he was pushed aside to give it to Ford because the studio owed Ford a ton of money for a film that never got made and Patriots Games was a make up movie for that film that fell apart. The studio claims, Baldwin was asking for too much script control and they could never come to an agreement." Being old enough to remember things back in the day, the story that's recounted in the IMDB listing for PATRIOT GAMES -- in the trivia section -- is actually the truth: "Alec Baldwin bowed out when production was pushed back from '91 to '92. He had already committed to doing a revival of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE on Broadway and told then-Paramount President Brandon Tartikof to either work around him or find someone else to play Ryan. Ford was subsequently approached to play Ryan -- after having turned down the role in HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER because he felt the script focused more on Captain Ramius than on Jack Ryan." Pushing the film's start date back also affected Ryan's wife too. Gates McFadden was supposed to reprise her role as Ryan's wife, but by the time PATRIOT GAMES was up and running, she was too busy filming a new season STAR TREK: NEXT GEN -- hence the reason Anne Archer was brought in. Oh, and Baldwin's side of the story about Ford being owed money and what not is also total B.S. Back at the time, I remember that part of the hold up on getting a sequel instantly rolling is that it was BALDWIN who -- based on RED OCTOBER'S success -- was asking an absolute insane amount of money to come back. As I seem to recall, he basically outsmarted himself. He signed a one picture deal -- for OCTOBER -- figuring that IF the movie was a hit, it would give him leverage to ask for a much bigger paycheck the next time around. The only problem being that when he showed up to negotiate PATRIOT GAMES, Baldwin now had a chip on his shoulder. He claimed the movie's success was due to him, and as a result he should get some pie in the sky pay day to return. At which point Paramount told him to take a hike and signed Ford instead -- who, ironically even though he was clearly a bigger "star" at the time, agreed to take on the roll for far, far less than what Baldwin was demanding. And Paramount was ecstatic. In one swift blow, they had gotten rid of a prima donna like Baldwin... they finally had their sequel up and running... and best of all, they had a far more bankable star in the lead, to hedge box office bets. So from Paramount's point of view, it was instantly a win, win, win.
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It's certainly on my radar.
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July 21, 2012, 11:35 a.m. CST
Wait a minute: Branagh, Pine... But does it have more Tatum?
by the tramp
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July 21, 2012, 8:59 p.m. CST
I was expecting to read Branagh was taking the James Earl Jones role.
by v3d
But it will be fun to see him as the villian. Those are always the fun parts to play anyway.
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July 22, 2012, 6:26 a.m. CST
Pine needs to play something other than the hero or main character...
by Han Cholo
Am calling him out and challenging him to take a role where he doesn't play the ubiquitous hero role so much as becoming the character he's playing, in a movie that isn't a necessarily a blockbuster wannabe, but a meaty role with meaningful character development to allow for a bar-raising performance. <p> Not asking to be Brando or anything, already done. Asking because aware there are way too many pretty boys now that all look the same and act the same. Break stereotype, find uniqueness of self and portray that into your character so that you become character, not actor playing character (portraying cliche hero beats, ie. pose, way of talking, walking, moving, etc.) Learn to be unique. Apply that acquired knowledge to well scouted role in order to better stock and raise bar for this generation of actors. <p> Have seen role as Kirk and am aware of talent for portraying complex roles. Choose complex and eclectic roles, also switch it up, do blockbuster stuff too, is good for people and positivity. However, find good balance between roles, be smart, challenge self, become major film star, make millions, then give back to others just as truth is being directed to you now.
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