JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT was one of the biggest disappointments of the year. It premiered way back in January, so most folks have already forgotten about it but one person who it has stuck with is star Chris Pine. Pine was the fourth actor to take on the Jack Ryan character after Harrison Ford (PATRIOT GAMES, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER) and Ben Affleck (THE SUM OF ALL FEARS). While Affleck’s was set as a prequel of sorts to the Ford films, JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT was a fully new take on the character designed to fit into the Jason Bourne mold of action franchises.
Alas, JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT grossed only $50 million in the United States and $135 million worldwide, pretty much killing any chance of a sequel. Despite having Kenneth Branagh as co-star and director, Kevin Costner as his mentor, and Keira Knightley as his wife, the film fizzled with audiences and critics. Still, with his latest film INTO THE WOODS opening tomorrow and STAR TREK 3 filming next year, Moviefone asked anyway if there was any hope of a JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT sequel.
No. I don’t think it made enough money for that to happen. That’s one of my deep regrets, that we didn’t totally get that right. It’s a great franchise and if it’s not me then I hope it gets a fifth life at this point. It’s just great. I love the spy genre. I hope it’s done again and with a great story.
I am glad that Chris Pine took the character to heart enough that it affected him that it didn’t work. The actors and filmmaker are all talented but the film just felt generic. Chris Pine has not had a lot of luck outside of the STAR TREK franchise thus far but has done some good work in supporting roles. Hopefully that changes in the near future. As for Jack Ryan, I am not sure if two failed reboots will warrant another try, but there are enough fans of Tom Clancy‘s novels that you can never say never.
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