Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has been making quite the name for himself over the past couple of years. In addition to his involvement with the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises, Bonaventura worked behind-the-scenes on this summer's Angelina Jolie action vehicle, Salt, and next week's comic book release, Red - not to mention he has the upcoming Jack Ryan franchise reboot, Moscow, on his plate as well.

Bonaventura spoke recently with Cinema Blend about Moscow, a prequel to Jack Ryan's previous cinematic ventures that explores the character's origins and will feature Chris Pine in the lead role. Lost director Jack Bender is attached to direct the flick, the script for which is currently being tweaked by Sherlock Holmes screenwriter Anthony Peckham.

Moscow will revolve around a pre-CIA Jack Ryan and will pick up with the character at a point in his career that - according to Bonaventura - "is very true to what [author Tom] Clancy had as his backstory." The plot of the film reportedly involves Ryan getting caught up in an elaborate conspiracy when he travels overseas to the titular city in order to work for a mysterious billionaire.

Production on Moscow is set to begin next spring, while Bonaventura claims that "There will be elements of [the 'Russian finance' plot]," and that he and his fellow filmmakers are working to prevent the plot from becoming too convoluted and distracting from the Jack Ryan character himself.

Salt 2 & Red 2

Cinema Blend also got Bonaventura to talk about the possibility of sequels to both Salt and Red. The Angelina Jolie spy thriller made around $283 million worldwide this past summer, while the ensemble comic book action flick has yet to prove itself at the box office - so a followup to either of these flicks is not out of the question at this juncture.

Read on for Bonaventura's thoughts on sequels to both of these films:

"[Angelina Jolie is] very excited about the character [Salt].  I hope that's something we pursue.  It's us coming up with a very different kind of plot again... 'Salt' allows for very extreme reactions.  That's the fun of 'Red' too.  I'd love to play with those characters [from the film] again."

Bonaventura also floated the possibility of other name actors coming onboard for a sequel to Red, since it would probably be difficult to get the entire main cast of the first film - which includes Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and Mary-Louise Parker - back together for the followup.

Angelina Jolie Salt 2 movie Red 2 movie cast Bruce Willis Morgan Freeman Helen Mirren John Malkovich
Will there be sequels to both 'Salt' and 'Red'?

Red arrives in theaters next week on October 15th, 2010, so we will see how it fares at the box office.  In the meantime, we will keep you posted on the development of Moscow and the sequel to Salt.

Source: Cinema Blend