Early Edition: Jack Ryan Reboot Moves Ahead; Ben Kingsley Joins 'The Dictator'; More

Paramount Pictures is really anxious to get its reboot of theJack Ryanfranchise started: The studio hiredDavid Koepp('Mission: Impossible,' 'Spider-Man') for seven figures to rewrite the script by Adam Cozad, according toDeadline.Steve Zaillian, who wrote the script for 1994's 'Clear and Present Danger,' originally was on board for the rewrite, but he left the project.Chris Pineis still attached to star as Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan character; he joins a rogue's gallery of Ryans played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. Paramount wants Pine to jump into Ryan after he finishes 'Star Trek 2,' which is scheduled for release June 29, 2012.

Yesterday we brought you the news thatSacha Baron Cohenwas putting meat on his new film 'The Dictator,'in which he plays the dual roles of a goat herder and a deposed foreign ruler who gets lost in the U.S. Larry Charles, who directed 'Borat' and 'Bruno,' is again behind the camera, working from a script by Baron Cohen and 'Seinfeld' writers Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer and Dave Mandel; Anna Faris, Kristen Wiig and Gillian Jacobs were reading for the female lead; and Jason Mantzoukas of 'The League' was in negotiations to play Baron Cohen's sidekick. NowVarietyreports thatBen Kingsleywill co-star as a Middle Eastern character who factors into the plot. The film will begin production this May in locations in New York and Morocco, and is scheduled for release on May 11, 2012.

DidButch Cassidyreally die with the Sundance Kid in Bolivia? Not according to'Blackthorn,'the English-language debut of director Mateo Gil that unspooled at the Tribeca Film Festival over the weekend and was just picked up by Magnolia Pictures. The film -- which stars Sam Shepard, Stephen Rea, Eduardo Noriega and Nicolaj Coster-Waldau -- speculates that Cassidy survived his final shootout with the Bolivian military in 1908 to embark on a last adventure, according toVariety.We'll find out later this year when Magnolia releases 'Blackthorn' to theaters.

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