Is Captain Kirk The New Jack Ryan?

Today is a big news day for the new Captain Kirk, Chris Pine. After this morning’s report that Pine was in talks with Paramount to star in The Art of Making Money with Disturbia director D.J. Caruso, now it seems that Paramount also wants to reel the rising star with the role of Jack Ryan in a series reboot.

The CIA analyst with a penchant for solving tricky situation has a long history in Tom Clancy books and on screen, where he’s been played by Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck. Ryan Gosling was once a name being tossed about for a reboot of the series that ended after Affleck’s mediocre The Sum of All Fears, but Pine seems like a perfect candidate considering the success of Star Trek.

It’s unknown whether or not Pine will return for Star Trek 2 before or after the untitled Jack Ryan reboot, but I’d bet on the former — the film is deep in development, without a director but with a script by Hossein Amini (The Four Feathers).

Hopefully, this will turn out to be a success for Paramount and Pine. The Hunt For Red October and Patriot Games are espionage classics, and the wonderful character of Jack Ryan deserves a powerful comeback.