You now have a rough date to mark on your calendar for the return of Jack Ryan, in the movie tentatively titled (you’ll never guess) Jack Ryan.  Deadline reports Paramount has scheduled the reboot for the fourth quarter of 2013, with the hope of kicking off a Jack Ryan trilogy led by Chris Pine, not to mention a spinoff that may star Tom Hardy as fellow spy John Clark.  Kenneth Branagh will direct Jack Ryan and play the villain.  Keira Knightley is the female lead, Jack’s wife Cathy.  Kevin Costner recently accepted the role as the CIA liason to Jack Ryan and John Clark, which puts Costner in both Jack Ryan and the Clark-centric spinoff Without Remorse, and may even headline his own movie in due time.

But for now, let’s focus on Jack Ryan.  Hit the jump for story details.

Paramount has been trying to reboot the Jack Ryan franchise for years now.  The studio is finally beginning to make real progress—not only on the Jack Ryan movie starring Chris Pine, but also on the spinoff Without Remorse.  The key was locking up Kenneth Branagh to direct and play the villain in the former.  Kevin Costner has now accepted the offer to star in both films as the CIA liason for Jack Ryan and Without Remorse lead character John Clark.  Christopher McQuarrie (Valkyrie) is in talks to write and direct Without Remorse, but it’s this next bit of news that will excite the legions of This Means War fans out there: Deadline reports that Paramount is courting Tom Hardy to play John Clark.  More after the jump.

As director Kenneth Branagh moves closer to production on his Jack Ryan reboot, it appears that the female lead role has now been filled.  We previously reported that Keira Knightley, Felicity Jones, and Evangeline Lilly were in the running to star opposite Chris Pine in the reboot of the classic Tom Clancy character.  Now Heat Vision reports that Knightley has entered negotiations to star as Pine’s wife in the film, which the report now refers to as Jack Ryan.  Hit the jump for more.

The reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise has lingered in development for years now.  Chris Pine has been attached since 2009 and watched director Jack Bender come and go as the months passed.  Though there is still no title, the project is finally making significant forward progress now that Kenneth Branagh signed on to direct and play the villain.  With the hero and the antagonist set, the next task for Branagh and Paramount is to decide on the female lead to play Jack’s wife Cathy.  Deadline hears Keira Knightley is the frontrunner for the role, but Felicity Jones and Evangeline Lilly are also in the mix.  Total Recall co-stars Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel also met for the role, but are reportedly no longer in the running.  Whoever lands the role would sign a deal with options for three movies.  Hit the jump for more on the story.

Director Kenneth Branagh is looking to pull double-duty on Paramount’s untitled Jack Ryan reboot.  We learned this past March that Branagh had entered negotiations to direct the thriller, and now Variety reports that the Thor director is also in talks to star as the film’s villain.  Chris Pine takes over the franchise that has been toplined in the past by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck.

Pine stars as an ex-Marine who now works as a financial analyst in Moscow.  “He discovers a plot by his employer to finance a terrorist attack designed to collapse the U.S. economy, and must race against time to save America and his wife.”  Hit the jump for more.

Just over a week after original director Jack Bender (Lost) dropped out of the project, Paramount looks to have found a suitable replacement to helm their reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise (The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games). Vulture reports that Kenneth Branagh is now in negotiations to direct the pic, which sees Star Trek’s Chris Pine take over the franchise that has been toplined in the past by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. The project has been in development for quite some time, with a number of writers taking a stab at the screenplay. Paramount is hoping to finally get cameras rolling later this year once Pine wraps the Star Trek sequel, and having a director onboard is a fairly crucial necessity to make that happen. Hit the jump to find out what the hold up has been.