David Koepp has been brought aboard to rewrite Paramount’s Untitled Jack Ryan Project, reports Deadline.
Though news broke earlier this year that Clear and Present Danger screenwriter Steve Zaillian would rewrite the Adam Cozad script (originally by Hossein Amini), the article says that Zaillian left the project before starting and that the rewrite is now completely in the hands of Koepp.
The plan is for the film to remain an origin story of the character, as reported some time back when producer Mace Neufeld told ComingSoon.net that the as-of-yet-untitled project would not be based on a Tom Clancy novel but would, instead, be an original screenplay.
“We pick him up when he’s on Wall Street,” said Neufeld in 2009, “…[but] the Jack Ryan movies have never been action films. They’re kind of ‘thinking man’s thrillers.’ Jack is referred to as a ‘water-walker’ because of his ability to jump ahead to conclusions. That’s very big in all the Jack Ryan films and that’s how we want to portray him. He’s a teacher. He’s a historian. He’s a linguist. And he’s really smart.”
The character of Jack Ryan has previously appeared in the Clancy adaptations The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of All Fears, the latter of which represented a previous attempt to reboot the franchise with a younger actor in the lead. Chris Pine is still attached to headline this version.
Koepp is considered one of Hollywood’s screenwriting heavy-hitters, responsible for (among many other films) Jurassic Park, Spider-Man and Mission: Impossible.
