There might be no word about Ryan Gosling, but Paramount is, indeed, moving forward with a Jack Ryan film that doesn't focus on one of Tom Clancy's novels. Variety reports that the company is currently in negotiations with Sam Raimi to lead the revival of Ryan for a series of films -- as both developer and director. They plan to create a series that would focus on the famous Clancy character when he's younger, and at an earlier point in his career.

Since they are still in the idea stage, nothing is set in stone, but Variety says that one idea is to have the film be set in the present, during a "global threat," which isn't very original. Personally, I would prefer something that went a little back in time, if they are looking at Ryan's start. Then again, these are studio musings completely free of the character's creator, so maybe they should just be considered a completely different entity. This project does, however, completely lead the way for Gosling to take over, if Phillip Noyce was right.

Right now, Raimi is busy with Drag Me to Hell, but the studio is hoping to get him working on this picture right after, so that the first flick can be released in the summer of 2010. I still don't understand why they can't just come up with a new action star, rather than young Ryan up and go on their merry way, but at least with Raimi involved, things could get interesting.

Back in November of 2006, I blogged about how Phillip Noyce, director of Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, had heard that Paramount was going to use the Jack Ryan character in stories not written by Tom Clancy, because of some legal loophole. Now, all these months later, there's more scoop. Noyce just talked with Moviehole and claims that while neither he nor Harrison Ford is returning to the world of Jack Ryan, there is, indeed, a film in the works -- a film starring Ryan Gosling.

This comes from the man himself, after Moviehole posted a story that Harrison Ford could be returning to the franchise. Now, this is just what he's heard. Since Noyce isn't involved, this is far from concrete, but it sure puts an interesting spin on things. As you can tell from the last time I wrote about this whole thing, I'm not a big fan of taking characters and running wild with them outside of the author's context. On the other hand, Ryan Gosling is a flipping great actor, and I'd probably check him out in just about anything -- even (or especially) a Breaker High reunion.

But that's just me. What do you think? Can Ryan Gosling pull off Jack Ryan?

Oh, the plight of the writer, who exists so low on the Hollywood power totem pole. They write up a script, and it gets swept away by producers and directors. If they're lucky or have some pull, they get taken along. Otherwise, it's out of their hands, either flying to the screen with the script intact, or being revamped by different writers. And, just sometimes, a legal loophole allows a literary and cinematic character to be stolen away.

Movieweb has reported that Phillip Noyce, director of Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, has heard that there are plans to bring Jack Ryan back to the big screen. The loophole allows Paramount to use the character in other films without any word from Tom Clancy. This means that we might just see Jack Ryan prancing around without the popular author's imagined landscapes and scenarios.

Why bother? Sure, Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan was a box office success, but that was as part of the film versions of Clancy's novels. If you have to go to all the effort to create a new story for an old, established character, why not just use that creativity to write up someone new? In any medium, once the original creator's vision exits stage, the audience starts murmuring sounds of protest. Eh, forget it. We should just throw all the classic icons into new settings, and I'm not talking about super heroes. How about Raskolnikov in a new college comedy, or a dead Emily Webb in a ghostly thriller?