It was recently rumored that Tom Hardy would be starring in an adaptation of Tom Clancy's Without Remorse, playing CIA operative-in-training John Kelly, but now it seems that he's gone and attached himself to another Clancy-inspired franchise entirely. New reports have surfaced saying that the Dark Knight Rises actor has signed a deal that will see him star in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, a movie based on the long-running, popular video game.
Variety reports that the project isn't set up with a studio yet, but that Ubisoft - the game developer - is behind the adaptation and has been meeting with representatives at both Warner Bros. and Paramount (the latter studio holds the rights to Without Remorse). The feature is being written by Eric Warren Singer (The International) and will feature Hardy as Sam Fisher, "a highly-trained special operative in a fictional black-ops operation called Echelon."
In a statement about the new film, CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures Jean-Julien Baronnet said, "Tom Hardy is currently one of the biggest talents in the film industry, and he has a phenomenal ability to take on complex and varied roles with his broad range of acting skills. His involvement in the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell movie is exciting news for movie and video game fans alike. Meanwhile, Eric Singer is one of the most talented writers of the moment, and ... we're confident he'll bring a fresh approach and create a thrilling story ... while still respecting all the codes and traditions of the franchise that are so important to fans."
Ubisoft is also currently developing a film based on their hit franchise Assassin's Creed, which is set up with New Regency and Fox and is set to star Michael Fassbender.
Splinter Cell was first born in 2002 and released on Xbox, Playstation 2 and Game Cube. Since then there have been five more titles, and the next, Splinter Cell: Black List, will be out next year.
