It seems serendipitous that the first official poster for the newly-subtitled Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit should arrive on the day of Tom Clancy’s passing, the legendary author who created the titular character (and largely invented the spy/espionage/CIA thriller in the process). Ryan (Chris Pine) seems as saddened as we are to have received the news, but we’d be willing to bet that his sullen expression isn’t solely one of mourning.
Despite being pitched as a man whose most dangerous weapon is his brain, Jack Ryan has his gun in hand; as the new title implies, the lines between the CIA analyst and a highly-trained field agent may not be as clear at the end of the film as they are at the outset.
Few details have been revealed about the reboot – previously titled simply Jack Ryan, and later Jack Ryan: Shadow One – and as far as naming conventions go, ‘Shadow Recruit’ doesn’t clarify much. Chris Pine will be bringing Tom Clancy’s famous government intelligence agent to life (following in the footsteps of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck), making the transition from an office job to a position in the field. That promotion will be overseen by William Harper (Kevin Costner), described as “a true blue American idealist who recruits and mentors Ryan.”
The rebooted Ryan kicks things off with a massive threat to the American economy: a plan created by a Russian financial expert (played by director Kenneth Branagh) to devalue the American dollar, and place it on the brink of collapse. Seeing that this sort of threat isn’t necessarily one solved by extensive gunfighting, Ryan’s own brilliance and tactical thinking makes him the perfect man to save the day (although the poster implies that a firearm will come in handy as well).
Unfortunately, concerns over whether or not Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street will push Jack Ryan‘s release back into 2014 won’t be put to rest by the poster, only promising that the film will be ‘coming soon.’ Although we’d say at this point, the studio deciding not to put their scheduled date on the poster may be a sign that even if Jack Ryan can save the world, he might not make his appointed launch.
What do you think of the first poster and the new subtitle? Were you hoping for more, or do names and marketing not matter to you as much as writing and strong performances? Sound off in the comments.
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Jack Ryan is set to hit theaters on December 25, 2013. If that date changes, we’ll keep you updated.
Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrew_dyce.
