Tom Clancy’s beloved Jack Ryan has struggled this millennium.
True story: Back in 2014, my brother and I stumbled into a cineplex in Boca Raton, Florida to kill some time while visiting our folks. Although we were baked out of our heads, we opted for the latest Jack Ryan reboot starring Chris Pine and Kevin Costner, only to crawl our way out 20 minutes later from absolute boredom. Fortunately, Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor was still in theaters, and we cried our eyes out to the sounds of Explosions in the Sky.
Unnecessary anecdote aside, we weren’t alone in thinking that Jack Ryan: Shadow Pursuit was a total, lifeless dud. The film was maligned by critics and virtually ignored by younger audiences, despite the fact that Captain James Kirk was running around with a gun. As such, the producers over at Paramount and Skydance have turned their backs to the silver screen in lieu of a new deal with Amazon, who will bring the adventures of Mr. Ryan to TV.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon has ordered 10 episodes of Jack Ryan, which will star The Office hunk John Krasinski as the titular hero, continuing his recent career turn as a gun-toting war machine. Even better, Carlton Cuse (Bates Motel, The Strain) and Graham Roland (Almost Human) penned the screenplay that finds Ryan uncovering a new breed of terrorism that threatens the world and yada, yada, yada.
“We’re excited to add the Jack Ryan global franchise to our robust originals pipeline,” Amazon Studios head Roy Price announced. “Our customers will enjoy a compelling adaptation of the action-packed spy thriller book series, further raising the bar for the quality level of storytelling that has made Prime Video a leading destination for content.”
The mission(s) should start sometime in 2017, which should give you plenty of time to catch up on your father’s prized collection of Clancy novels or too many lazy afternoons to re-watch The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of All Fears, and … eh, skip Shadow Recruit. But skip it for your country, man!
