George Clooney Doesn’t Know Jack – Ryan That Is!

A new Jack Ryan film has been kicking about the Paramount studio lot since the release of 2002′s The Sum of All Fears. Numerous names have been mentioned in conjunction with the Tom Clancy-created character, who has previously been portrayed on screen by Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck.

The last person who was in the frame for the next Ryan flick was George Clooney, but the producer of the forthcoming film, Lorenzeo Di Bonaventura says that the film isn’t suited to a man of Clooney’s age.

When speaking to MTV, the producer of Transformers and G.I. Joe gave an update on the project that rules out Clooney’s involvement.

Di Bonaventura said:

“We submitted a script to Paramount recently. It was well-received and it’s in the process. It’s for a young Jack Ryan. I love George, but it’s not written for a man of his age. It’s written for a guy in his early 30s.”

Now, this news isn’t a huge surprise because Paramount have been looking to reboot the political action thriller series with a younger actor for sometime. However, there was a possibility that Clooney’s interest in the project might sway the studio to tailor the film to suit the actor. The Ryan films have always been more successful at the domestic box office, though Clooney’s international appeal may have helped open the film up to new revenue streams abroad.

It’s interesting that the studio still wants to go with a lead in his “early thirties” as there are few actors in that age bracket who can open a film like this. I thought that Clooney was a great choice – he was very good as a Jack Ryan-esque character in 1997′s The Peacemaker and although he’s now in his late forties, he’d still be good in the role.

I can only imagine that Di Bonaventura might knock on the door of his G.I. Joe hero Channing Tatum or that Paramount might approach their Star Trek star Chris Pine.

It’ll be interesting to see who finally steps into Ryan’s shoes, but they shouldn’t get too comfortable as the character has so far been played by three actors in only four films.

Who do you think would make the perfect Jack Ryan?

Source: MTV