We recently announced Kevin Costner was in negotiations to play mentor William Harper to title character JACK RYAN in a reboot of Tom Clancy’s heroic C.I.A. analyst. We can now confirm THE UNTOUCHABLES star will take the role in not only Kenneth Branagh’s forthcoming film, but also a spin-off based around another Clancy character, John Kelly. WITHOUT REMORSE will focus on civilian Kelly’s ascent from vengeance-seeking war veteran to skilled silent field operative codenamed Mr Clark. His character appeared in Ryan thrillers CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER and THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, played by Willem Dafoe and Liev Schrieber respectively.
JACK REACHER writer/director Christopher McQuarrie is set to helm WITHOUT REMORSE, with the 1970s setting of the original book, no doubt updated to make sense in the Ryan techno-thriller world. Paramount Pictures are looking at THE DARK KNIGHT RISES and future MAD MAX star Tom Hardy to headline that particular feature. There is also an option in Costner’s deal to lead his own thriller featuring his character Harper, providing both JACK RYAN and WITHOUT REMORSE are a success.
Chris Pine takes over the role of JACK RYAN, previously played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck, and will co-star Keira Knightley and the director himself, Kenneth Branagh, who’ll also play the main villain. Both Pine and Hardy appeared together as C.I.A.operatives in action-comedy THIS MEANS WAR earlier this year.
Source: Deadline
