Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for Kenneth Branagh’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, based on the character made famous by recently deceased author Tom Clancy. Yesterday I wrote an opinion piece on why I believe that Paramount is fatally misunderstanding Ryan as a character, and this new trailer does little to assuage my fears. Ryan here is a little to Jason Bourne for my liking.
The film is a reboot of the “franchise” and sees Ryan as a young recruit to the CIA attempt to foil a Russian billionaire’s scheme to economically cripple the US.
Chris Pine accepts the mantle of Ryan, with director Branagh on chief villain duties, Kevin Costner in full mentor role, and Keira Knightley as Ryan’s wife, Cathy.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is pencilled in for a December 26th release.
Based on the character created by bestselling author Tom Clancy, “Jack Ryan” is a global action thriller set in the present day. This original story follow a young Jack (Chris Pine) as he uncovers a financial terrorist plot.
The story follows him from 9/11, through his tour of duty in Afghanistan, which scarred him forever, and into his early days in the Financial Intelligence Unit of the modern CIA where he becomes an analyst, under the guardianship of his handler, Harper (Kevin Costner). When Ryan believes he’s uncovered a Russian plot to collapse the United States economy, he goes from being an analyst to becoming a spy and must fight to save his own life and those of countless others, while also trying to protect the thing that’s more important to him than anything, his relationship with his fiancée Cathy (Keira Knightley).