It would seem that Kenneth Branagh is not only interested in directing another action movie after helming Thor in 2011, but he's also apparently taken an interest in starring in one as well.
Nearly four months after it was announced that Branagh would be helming the still-in-development Jack Ryan reboot, Variety has learned that the actor/director has taken an interest in playing the film's main villain. The project has been in the works for quite a long time now, shepherded by producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and David Ellison, but now it seems that the project may finally be coming together. Chris Pine is still attached to play Ryan, and the film which will see the character as ex-Marine who, while working in Moscow, discovers that his boss is working to finance a terrorist attack that will destroy the United States economy. With no other options, Ryan is forced to try and save both America and his wife.
If you couldn't figure it out already, Branagh would play the Russian at the head of the company who apparently even gets support from the local government. Branagh's last acting work came last year, when he played Sir Laurence Oliver in Simon Curtis' My Week with Marilyn. His performance earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination at this year's Academy Awards, however he lost to Christopher Plummer).
The article doesn't say when they are planning to begin production, and Paramount had no comment on the casting.
