If you were hoping that Sam Raimi was getting back into the horror racket full-time with Drag Me to Hell, forget about it: he’s taking over the Jack Ryan franchise for Paramount.
Variety is careful to state that Raimi “is by no means out of the running to make more Spider-Man films”, but I doubt Sony has any interest in waiting around for two or three years while the director dicks around with the vastly uninteresting CIA analyst. Paramount is targeting a summer 2010 launch for the new Jack Ryan (who, according to studio sources, is going to be younger, hipper and “scorchingly Italian”), so this sounds like the end of Raimi and the webslinger. For most of you, this is probably welcome news. Personally, I thought he was headed in a fascinating direction with the character after the second film, but the last installment was clearly the work of a bored and/or distracted artist; it’s time to relinquish the reins.
But why Jack Ryan? I tore through a few of the books when I was in high school, but even then I knew Tom Clancy was a lousy writer in dire need of a ruthless editor. Of the novels I read, only The Hunt for Red October could classify as satisfying on a pulp level; techno-philes may disagree, but they’re dullards. And please don’t start with the gritty “brilliance” of Without Remorse; it’s a pedestrian piece of shit.
Clancy fans may be leery about Raimi, but, as a die-hard Republican, he’s more likely to do “right” by the author than, say, Phil Alden Robinson. Though Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Josh Donen are also on board as producers, this will definitely be Raimi’s show. So let’s lower our sights and lobby for Bruce Campbell as… oh, Admiral James Greer.
19 comments
What are you basing the 'die hard Republican' label on? I know he's been shown to have made donations to the party in the past but he's also donated to Democrats and I've never heard him make any explicit political comments in interviews.
Going by the Variety article it seems like it probably won't be based on any of the books anyway so maybe Raimi's got his own ideas to jazz up the character a bit (and make him a little less dull). As this is the 10 zillionth project Raimi's name has been attached to in the last couple of years maybe it'll never happen anyway. Id prefer him to do the Wee Free Men or something original…
Add Venom already to ruin it. Please. Jack Ryan does a dance number. I know Venom was Arad's idea but whatever.
Anton Yelchin for young Jack Ryan! Wow. I could not be less interested to see Raimi go in this direction.
NO. NO. NO. This series has never been anything more than tedious. Leave it to die and let Raimi do something interesting.
I thought Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger were great fun, but that was only because Harrison Ford was in them. Without him, any new Ryan movie would be dull, dull, dull.
"Scorchingly Italian"? Could this be the reason Nick is moving west?
{Re"younger, hipper, and scorchingly italian"} So, I guesse Ben Affleck is out. Ouch.
Wow, the increasing irrelevance of Raimi, right before our very eyes. The man who made the Evil Dead films a "die-hard Republican"? That's it, I'm done with his stuff. It was fine in High School, but it just won't cut it anymore.
Watch our Raimi there are people who are going to dismiss you simply for being a "die-hard Republican" because apparently they've grown up. I hope Naturals Lover and others know all the political affiliations of all their favorite actors, directors, and musicians. You better if you want to dismiss someone out of hand for not being as enlightened as you.
Red October through Without Remorse were all great. I don't care what anyone says. It's when Jack Ryan became involved in politics that Clancy began his decline. Clancy is piss-poor with characters, I'll admit, but he knows how to craft an intricate story. But I'm just a dullard, what do I know. This from the man who still defends Land of the Dead.
I guess Paramount wants to top UA/MGM/Sony for most number of actors to play one character in a series. James Bond – 6 Jack Ryan – going on 4. Come on Paramount, you got some catching up to do.
In my mind it was a shame that they didn't keep Alec Baldwin as Ryan. He was classy but not a joke like Bond. Harrison was grumpy even then.
Be strong Sam, don't let the fascist Liberals black list you! Stay strong!
I'm with Naturals. We're so cool. Yeah man… republicans suck! Raimi sucks and now I hate everything he ever did because hating republicans is cool. Right people? right? …please love me. its so lonely in my parent's basement.
Yes, my SECOND parent's basement joke on CHUD! Again, the readership shows that it is truly the lowest common denominator. I'm done with his stuff- not simply because he's a Republican- but because someone with a Republican voter card is a complete hypocrite for making films like the "Evil Dead" series. What reactionary geniouses exist in these new CHUD comments.
uhh, high school kids with too much time on their hands who think they should judge a person's films based on who they vote for?
Again, read my actual comment genius. I'm not a high school kid, and I live in a house- with my wife and kid. Imagine that, an informed, responsible fan with an opinion! Very different from your usual CHUD comment poster, who just says "You suck" or "get out of the basement" or some other lame bit instead of an intelligent reply.
Raimi Version 2.0: Complete.
Interest: Gone.
Unless he actually intends to throw radical right-wing messages into all his movies from now on, I really don't see why his politics should have any bearing on whether anyone will continue to watch them. But if that's how you feel, just to be safe, you'd better not watch The Big Sleep, The Thing from Another World or His Girl Friday, lest Howard Hawks's subversive Republican leanings turn you into a gun-totin', Bush-loving member of the GOP!
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