Although principal photography commenced on director Kenneth Branagh’s Jack Ryan a short while ago, Paramount has now officially announced the production.  We previously brought you set photos of Chris Pine as the title character, his CIA liaison as played by Kevin Costner and even a shot of Branagh as the film’s villain.  Jack Ryan also stars Keira Knightley, who Steve had a chance to talk to about the film while at the Toronto International Film Festival.  Be sure to check out Jack Ryan, the latest Tom Clancy adaptation which hits theaters Christmas Day, 2013.  Hit the jump for the press release. 

Yesterday we brought you the first image of Chris Pine as a young Jack Ryan in Kenneth Branagh’s Jack Ryan.  Now, Paramount Pictures has given us the first look at Kevin Costner playing a legendary CIA field agent in the film.  Jack Ryan puts Pine in the shoes of the famous Tom Clancy character that has previously been portrayed onscreen by Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October), Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger), and Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears).  This prequel finds Pine’s ex-Marine Jack Ryan working as a Moscow-based financial analyst who uncovers a plot by his employer to finance a terrorist attack designed to collapse the U.S. economy.  Branagh not only directs, but stars as the villain with Keira Knightley also onboard as the female lead.  Jack Ryan, currently shooting in downtown Manhattan, opens Christmas Day, 2013.  Hit the jump to see the first look at Costner. 

Warner Bros. and Paramount are competing for the rights to developing a film based off the popular video game series Splinter Cell.  According to Deadline, the studios are in talks with video game developer Ubisoft, which means that the movie will be based off the games rather than the Tom Clancy novels that inspired the series.  Paramount is reportedly the frontrunner to acquire the property, which follow the adventures of covert operative Sam Fisher and his cool night vision goggles.  There have been six games thus far with the seventh in the series, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, having recently been revealed at this year’s E3.  Because video game adaptations tend to be terrible, Ubisoft is determined to have more control over the property (they’re also taking the same approach with the adaptation of Assassin’s Creed).  At least they learned a lesson from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

If Paramount picks up Splinter Cell, they will be even deeper in the Tom Clancy business.  The studio is still trying to develop a reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise with Chris Pine as the new handsome-desk-jockey-hero with Kenneth Branagh set to direct.  Paramount is also developing an adaptation of the spinoff novel Without Remorse, which features the far more interesting character John Clark (previously played by Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber).  Hit the jump to see the trailer for Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

In perhaps the best news of the day, Paramount Pictures has chosen The Shield creator Shawn Ryan to adapt Tom Clancy’s best-selling 1993 novel Without Remorse into a feature film. According to Vulture, Transformers scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci will produce the film along with David Ellison. The film is a means of establishing a new franchise for the studio, who recently sold their major Marvel titles to Disney.

Set in the Jack Ryan universe, Remorse tells the origin story of CIA operative John Clark (who figured prominently in other Clancy novels, most notably Clear and Present Danger) and his rise to prominence as a lethal government spy. The character was played by Willem Dafoe in the film adaptation of Clear and Present Danger, whilst Liev Schrieber briefly took on the role in 2002’s The Sum of All Fears. No word on whether this film will tie in with the previously announced reboot of the Jack Ryan series (tentatively titled Moscow), which will star Chris Pine (Star Trek). It’s also unclear if the film will carry over the 1970 setting of the novel, or if it will be a contemporary piece. The film is tentatively set for 2011. Hit the jump for more.

If you haven’t seen the short Logorama, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Sunday, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Francois Alaux and Herve de Crecy, the directors behind the short are now in contract to create a 20 minute film based on the newest Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon video game. THR is reporting that the film will act as a prequel to the newest game titled Ghost Recon: Future Soldiers, which is due out this holiday season. The film is being written by Children of Men scribe Tim Sexton and produced by Ridley Scott’s production company RSA, with a budget of 8-10 million dollars.

This isn’t the first time that video game developer Ubisoft has had a short film made for a game. In late 2009 we saw the game Assassin’s Creed 2′s release come with the short film Assassins Creed: Lineage. The film was split up into 3 parts and released on YouTube (which can be found here) and later released as a television event on Spike. It’s safe to assume a similar situation will arise here.

Logorama was my favorite of all the animated shorts from Sunday’s nominees, and I’m incredibly excited to see what these new directors are going to do with this franchise. If you haven’t already done so, please sit down and watch the gem that is Logorama. It doesn’t disappoint.

If Robert Downey Jr. has taught us anything, it’s that no actor should be trapped by just one franchise.  An actor can be the star of any series that will likely require a three-picture deal and that doesn’t mean they won’t get to do any smaller projects.  Through the magic of cloning, any actor can be in at least three or four major movies every year.  Chris Pine has apparently discovered this cloning as he is in talks to star in Paramount’s attempt to once again reboot Tom Clancy’s “Jack Ryan” franchise.  Hit the jump to boldly go where no one has gone before AND save America from freedom-haters.