Where the book was heavily centered on John Kelly (the man who will become John Clark) embarking on a trial of vengeance when his ex-prostitute girlfriend is murdered, with a digression that sees our hero sneak into and out of Vietnam, the film swaps the 1970s-centric plotline for something a bit less locked into a specific era, which either makes it more timeless or less unique, depending on one’s perspective. Although initially slated for theatrical release from Paramount, pandemic-related delays prompted Amazon to acquire it, with the added effect of keeping Clark in close proximity to his Clancy kin.ġ0 Images Although sharing the same title as the novel, Taylor Sheridan and Will Staples’ script pays lipservice but charts its own course (so, basically like every Tom Clancy adaptation since 1992).

Without Remorse could well end up finally creating another franchise to run on a parallel track (and possibly intersecting with) the Ryan series.

In that sense, things probably worked out for the best. It seems it took Jordan’s arrival in the superstar firmament to finally put fuel in the tank and actually get the thing made.

Years turned to decades as they attempted to crack the story, with Keanu Reeves, Gary Sinise, and Tom Hardy all attached at various points even as the studio careened from one Jack Ryan reboot to another ( the current Amazon Prime show starring John Krasinski marks the fifth iteration of the Ryan character if you’re keeping score). The 1993 publication of Without Remorse gave the character an origin story and seemed to point the way towards an impending celluloid adaptation, but home studio Paramount kept kicking the can down the road. In both of those films, the enigmatic Clark offered a muscular, shoot-first brand of spycraft that was an interesting contrast with the more cerebral heroics embodied by Jack Ryan (the author’s other most famous character), with both prior takes on the character proving compelling in their own right. First appearing in print as part of Clancy’s famed Jack Ryan book series, John Clark was previously played by Willem Dafoe in 1994’s Clear and Present Danger and Liev Scheiber in 2002’s The Sum of all Fears.

Without remorse