Keira Knightley Lands Female Lead Opposite Chris Pine in 'Jack Ryan'

The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Keira Knightley has been chosen over Evangeline Lilly and Like Crazy's Felicity Jones for the female lead in Jack Ryan, the Kenneth Branagh-helmed reboot of the Tom Clancy character previously featured in The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear And Present Danger, and The Sum Of All Fears. Knightley joins a cast that currently includes Chris Pine as the new Jack Ryan, Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Kenneth Branagh (both directing and playing the film's villain).

Jack Ryan functions as a prequel to Clancy's Jack Ryan book series, with a story that "centers on ex-Marine and Moscow-based financial analyst Jack Ryan (Pine), who uncovers a plot by his employer to finance a terrorist attack designed to collapse the U.S. economy. Ryan must race against time to save America and his wife (Knightley)." No release date has been announced, but I suspect Paramount is aiming for late December 2013 -- positioning the film as the holiday action successor to 2011's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and 2012's Jack Reacher.