There are countless people named Chris who are involved in Hollywood, but four of them stand above the rest. Among this prized quartet are Chris Pine and Chris Pratt, and it's being reported that the former is being eyed for a role in an upcoming movie that was being lined up for the latter just a few years ago.
Back in 2018, we learned that Chris Pratt was in talks to star in The Saint as Simon Templar, the literary character created by Leslie Charteris in 1928. A Robin Hood-esque thief who holds many aliases and leaves a stick figure calling card at the sites of his crimes, Simon has been played by numerous actors over the decades, including Roger Moore in a 1960s TV series and Val Kilmer in a 1997 movie.
Now word’s come in that rather than Chris Pratt starring in The Saint reboot, Chris Pine is being eyed to lead the movie. If Pine signs onto the project, he’ll be working with Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher, who signed on to helm the new Saint movie back in February. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter writer Seth Grahame-Smith penned the latest draft of the script.
It’s unclear why Chris Pratt is no longer in the running for The Saint, although given that Jurassic World: Dominion had to pause filming, it’s possible that whenever cameras start rolling on the dinosaur-filled threequel again, that’ll prevent Pratt from working on any other projects. Whether that’s the reason or something else, now Chris Pine is gearing up to fill that spot.
It helps that Chris Pine has spent time in the action realm. Most notably, he took over the Jack Ryan mantle for 2014’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and he succeeded William Shatner as James T. Kirk for three Star Trek movies. And speaking of that franchise, which, like The Saint, also hails from Paramount Pictures, Variety mentioned in its writeup that as the wait for Star Trek 4 continues, the studio felt Simon Templar was “the perfect role” for the actor to inhabit in the meantime.
Like Chris Pratt, Chris Pine also has some superhero movie experience under his belt, although it hasn’t been through the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Pratt, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth. Pine played Steve Trevor in 2017’s Wonder Woman and reprised the role for the forthcoming Wonder Woman 1984. Pine also recently worked with director Patty Jenkins on the TNT miniseries I Am The Night.
While there are no specific details regarding what we can expect from this new version of The Saint, Paramount is reportedly hoping that this globetrotting adventure will be the first installment of a “long-running movie series.” As for when The Saint will begin filming, that hasn’t been set in stone yet, but it seems like this will be the next movie that Dexter Fletcher works on.
Keep checking back for CinemaBlend for more updates on how The Saint is coming along. For now, look through our 2020 release schedule to see what’s still to come to the big screen later this year.
