Collider first reported on a screen adaptation of Tom Clancy's Without Remorse in 2009. The story, featuring Navy SEAL John Kelly on a personal quest for revenge, was tackled by Stuart Beattie at the time. Then, Shawn Ryan and Christopher McQuarrie took separate cracks at it. Aborted plans were made to cast Tom Hardy as Kelly, and bring back Kevin Costner from Kenneth Branagh's's Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit to create a new Clancy-verse. Finally, after this long journey, Without Remorse is coming to the screen. And in an exclusive interview with our own Steve Weintraub, producer Akiva Goldsman gave us the most recent update.

The film, directed and written respectively by the Sicario: Day of the Soldado team of Stefano Sollima and Taylor Sheridan, and starring Michael B. Jordan as John Kelly, is currently in post-production. And how is Goldsman and his team handling the pressures of editing a big action film during a worldwide pandemic? He explained thusly, inventing a new slang term in the process:

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Image via Paramount Pictures

"We are in complex, corona'd post. So, the director is in Italy, the editor is in Germany, we are [in the USA] in various places, and we Skype together, and we work on the movie together, and then we see cuts. So we are in the editorial phase, and we've actually been doing it all week this week in the mornings, for time zones, and it's going really far better than it should, considering where we all are."

Now those are some professionals, and we are beyond grateful to hear everyone's staying safe while still crafting a movie to their satisfaction. Goldsman went on to highlight one facet of why things are going so well: Its star power. "Michael B. Jordan is so extraordinary, and the object is very singular in that way. It's kind of a delivery system for this performance. I like it, I think you'll like it."

Goldsman also commented on the lengthy trail to the screen Without Remorse took (saying that he found the Shawn Ryan take "wonderful. I have admired that project for literally the better part of a decade, in screenplay form"). In explaining why a project with so many roadblocks and hands along the way appeals to him, the writer/producer got appealingly philosophical:

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Image via Warner Bros.

"I'm much less interested in 'the fresh new thing.' Because 'the fresh new thing' is often just yesterday's news, quickly. I like the things that have hung around but haven't found their way. Because typically, they abide with durability because there's something there. I Am Legend sat on a shelf for ten years. Hancock, which was [originally titled] Tonight, He Comes, was around for ten years. Even Deep Blue Sea. I value these objects that people have affection for, but haven't quite been able to crack. So too is Without Remorse. There's merit in these things we don't forget."

Without Remorse, barring any further delays, comes out October 2, 2020. Check out the rest of our stories from Steve's interview with Goldsman throughout the week. Be sure to reacquaint yourself with the moody first look Jordan originally posted last year. And check out the full clip from the interview below.

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