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.

Paramount Pictures is taking the first steps in moving forward with production of their newest drama, The Art of Making Money, by wooing actor Chris Pine and director D.J. Caruso to be involved with the project.

If negotiations go as Paramount would like, Pine, who audiences will remember from his recent portrayal as James T. Kirk in Star Trek, will be cast as the film’s lead. Pine would be playing the role of Art Williams, the alias of a former Chicago petty thief who made his way up through the ranks of the criminal world to become a master counterfeiter.

Paramount also hopes to have Caruso, who most recently directed Disturbia and Eagle Eye, take on directing duties for the film. If Caruso agrees to be part of The Art of Making Money, he will be joining producers Brian Robbins, Sharla Sumpter and Brad Weston in making the movie, along with executive producer Paul Pompian.

Production on The Art of Making Money is set to start early next year.

Myself and others who have read Vertigo’s Brian Vaughan written future set story Y: The Last Man could swallow it when reports some time back said that Transformers star Shia LaBeouf would be playing the lead, Yorick. Seeing him trample around the world as the only man with his pet monkey Ampersand was something to look forward to, until LaBeouf squashed it down in July’s issue of Wizard Magazine.

Shia's not Yorick anymore?

Well it seems that the friend of the Autobots in this reporter’s opinion does not know how to tell the difference between two completely different characters (between Sam and Yorick).

“I’m not willing to make that movie currently,” he says bluntly,”and may be too old to play the role by the time it does come around.”

Does he expect to be in his late thirties the next time he has some space in his schedule? Sure, he’s set to be a part of the sequel of Wall Street entitled Money Never Sleeps and The Associate. I did not know that he was completely unaccessible to team up with D.J. Caruso, the director of Disturbia and Eagle Eye, for years on end to fill the role of a man who’s edging into his late twenties. Hopefully Shia knows what he’s doing by making this decision.

In short – this is one hell of an action packed, white knuckle, thrill ride!

Eagle Eye, D.J. Caruso‘s latest film is the 2nd best film of the year behind The Dark Knight! Yes I know that is a bold statement with the likes of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Indiana Jones premiering in ’08.

Yes I also know that there will be Watchmen, and The Spirit and others out this year to follow. And I will stand by this film till the end. This movie kicked so much ass!

From the first few minutes of the film, introducing us to Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachael Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), we see a connection on the big screen. Not necessarily between the two of them but between the viewer and them. You actually start to care for these two strangers very quickly. You want to know what is happening, who their family is and most of all what their story is. Then all of a sudden the ride starts and doesn’t end for another hour and a half. This thrill ride follows two ordinary folks, or so it seems, through a maze of calculated steps to achieve an end goal of extraordinary measures. From FBI mishaps, to the Air Force, to top secret levels in warehouses that don’t exist, we follow these two everywhere.

From the start of the film you get a sense that something big is happening. Bigger than the people we are quickly getting to know more about. Jerry is a normal guy working at “Copy Cabana” and Rachael is a single mom working as a paralegal . With Jerry’s twin brother just dying and Rachael’s son just sent off on a school field trip, they are both very alone in their sad lives.

With a twist of fate the two each receive a phone call from a woman with very explicit instructions to follow. This is when the action becomes so intense I thought my fingers lost circulation from holding onto one another so tight.

The direction from Caruso was great if you ask me. The way the camera moves and the acting by Shia and Michelle made me believe I was part of their crazy thrill ride. The score itself left a little to be desired but at the same time, most folks don’t sit through a movie thinking, do I like the music in this movie?

Overall I would recommend this to almost anyone, short of folks who are stupid enough to bring their young children to any movie. The action is non stop, the intelligence is believable and the world we live in just got creepier.

With lots of oohs and ahhs from the crowd, you can’t expect much more from a sleeper hit. This movie will do well and I promise you will be worth price of admission.

I was able to bring a buddy of mine to the showing who works in the intelligence sector and working with data encryption, way over our heads. His statement at the end of the movie, a big smile and said “That was the best movie I have ever seen”. Take it with a grain of salt, but this should knock your socks off.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆