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Kenneth Branagh confirmed today that he’ll be in the cast of the Jack Ryan feature franchise reboot for Paramount. Branagh confirmed his casting while speaking on a PBS Masterpiece Mystery! Wallander III panel at the Television Critics Association presentation in Beverly Hills. Branagh described the movie as “an original story that allows us to understand how Jack Ryan, created by Tom Clancy, develops into a CIA analyst, before joining, and perhaps even joining, the CIA. It’s a very contemporary action thriller, set in the here and now.” Chris Pine is playing the agent based on Clancy’s novels. Branagh will play the Russian villain who is plotting to wreck the U.S. economy. David Koepp is working on a rewrite of Adam Cozad’s script Moscow. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mace Neufeld are producing for Paramount and David Ellison’s Skydance Productions. The movie’s in preproduction at Pinewood Studios in England. Principal photography is expected to begin in September.
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Really?
There aren’t any great Russian Actors who speak English?
What’s next for Branagh? Othello? He can play it in Black Face like Olivier!
Branagh probably has more box office appeal since you cannot name one Russian actor who speaks English
Anton Yelchin(Pavel in Star Trek) is Russian
Have you actually seen any Russian actors try to speak English convincingly? It’s very difficult for them. Watch the great Oleg Menshikov stumble through “The Barber of Siberia”. Russian to English is one of the harder language transitions to make. Much more sensible to cast an English speaker who’ll do a Russian accent.
Seriously, look at most Russian characters in film. They’re either played by Brits or by someone like Rade Serbedzija, who’s Croatian.
Rade was the first person I thought of as well. But in fairness, I had to spend five minutes to look up his name…
It’s called acting, love. They say he’s rather good at it.
Just a a matter of history, Branagh has already done Othello, as Iago to Laurence Fishburne’s Othello. One of his many Shakespear offerings and perfectly cast.
Good. Branagh is an excellent addition to just about anything. He should be a fine fit for a Jack Ryan film.
…Hope Chris Pine doesn’y blow it like Alec Baldwin did by not continuing the role after the Hunt for red October..Not that Harrison Ford wasn’t great, but he was too much the super hero type for it. Alec had it nailed..Hope Chris Pine doesn’t play it as captain Kirk as did HF did as Indiana Jones.
Bourne, Ryan, Hunt, Reacher, that character Liam Neeson’s always playing now… is it just me or are they basically all interchangeable?
Wow.. high standard you’re setting for actors, that they should be the nationality, ethnicity, etc of whomever they portray. Since when do actors have to have the identical ethnicity, nationality or even exact looks of the person they portray, as long as they can do a credible job of convincing the audience they represent the character realistically?
In Shakespeare’s time, men portrayed women on stage… as in Japan’s Kabuki theater. No one had trouble accepting the representation. Actors wear makeup and costumes too… all to help with the portrayal.
what i want say – Branagh in role russian villain will be good, because his not russian actor.
I understood that Chris Pine got excited by this casting while at Pinewood Studios. He never felt so at home.
Not a good piece of casting. You don’t want the audience routing for the villain.