John Krasinski Cast As The New Jack Ryan

Tom Clancy’s CIA hero Jack Ryan is getting yet another screen do-over - this time for television.

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Deadline reports that John Krasinski has been cast in the title role of a new ‘Jack Ryan’ series, being produced by Paramount TV for Amazon Studios.

Although ‘Jack Ryan’ does not yet have a green light, it does have some big names involved, with Carlton Cuse (whose TV credits include ‘Lost’) on board as showrunner, and Michael Bay producing via his company Platinum Dunes.

The Bay connection is noteworthy, as the director and producer recently worked with Krasinksi on ‘13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.’

Krasinski - best known to date for the US TV version of ‘The Office,’ as well as being married to Emily Blunt, and narrowly missing out on the role of Captain America - will be the latest in a long line of esteemed actors to portray Jack Ryan.

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Alec Baldwin first portrayed the character (sometimes regarded as the American James Bond) in 1990′s ‘The Hunt For Red October,’ alongside Sean Connery, from ‘Die Hard’ director John McTiernan.

However, Baldwin turned down 1992 sequel ‘Patriot Games,’ leading to Harrison Ford taking over. Ford then became the only actor to date to play Ryan a second time, returning in 1994′s ‘Clear and Present Danger.’ Both films were directed by Philip Noyce.

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The series later took a soft reboot approach (prior to ‘Casino Royale,’ we might note) by casting Ben Affleck as a younger Ryan in 2002′s ‘The Sum Of All Fears,’ from director Phil Alden Robinson.

Most recently, Chris Pine played the role in another reboot, 2014′s ‘Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,’ with Kenneth Branagh directing (as well as playing the villain).

Jack Ryan has featured in over 20 novels written by Tom Clancy and other authors since 1984, gradually advancing from CIA agent to the agency’s deputy director, and ultimately President of the United States. More recent novels have seen the character take a back seat to his son Jack Ryan Jr.

However, it is reported that the TV series will not be modeled directly on any specific Clancy novels, but will instead present “a new contemporary take on the character in his prime as a CIA analyst/operative.”

Picture Credit: Paramount

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