There are two prime ‘seasons’ on the Box Office calendar, summer and holiday. Both represent times of the year where most people like to go watch movies, and as a result, most of the best films get released in those windows. During these seasons there are single weekends that are the marquee slots, reserved for the films most likely to draw in the biggest audiences, the fourth of July and Christmas.

If you want some idea of how much faith Paramount has in their new Jack Ryan reboot, you have only to look at its freshly minted release date for an answer. Kenneth Branagh’s CIA thriller reboot will be hitting screens December 25th, 2013. The new potential franchise starter stars Chris Pine as the titular analyst, Keira Knightley as his love interest, Branagh himself as the villain Kevin Costner in an important but as yet unidentified ‘key’ role.

One of the most interesting developments for this film is the way Paramount is setting the franchise up. They don’t seem content in just developing a new franchise in the style of the Bourne films or James Bond, instead Paramount thinks that there is a whole shared universe of Tom Clancy characters that they can develop like Marvel Studios has done with The Avengers.

So the development of this film has turned into a rather interesting experiment, stay connected to The Flickcast for any future updates.

Kenneth Branagh has one of those careers that every struggling actor waiting tables in Los Angeles dreams of having. He is an extraordinary actor who has mastered The Bard and eventually turned himself into a well-respected director.

He is in his ‘tent pole’ era as a director right now, coming off of Thor his next project is a reboot of Jack Ryan for Paramount. Variety is reporting that Branagh might have finally found himself a villain for the project:

Paramount didn’t have to look far for the villain in its untitled Jack Ryan reboot, as the studio is in negotiations with Kenneth Branagh — who’s also directing the film — to star opposite Chris Pine in the action thriller that aims to reinvigorate the blockbuster franchise.

Directing a major blockbuster-to-be and being able to insert yourself as the main bad guy of the piece? Like said, the career every aspiring actor dreams of having.

As a wonderful, British, actor Branagh is a uniquely qualified for the bad guy role. In my estimation this reboot is shaping up rather nicely.

Expect the next Jack Ryan adventure to hit theaters some time next year, and stay tuned to The Flickcast for any other news about Branagh deciding to write the score of the film himself too.

The career of Kenneth Branagh is one of the most interesting in modern Hollywood. From Shakespeare to Super Heroes and lots in-between, Branagh has range beyond most modern filmmakers. He is a fantastic actor to boot.

Last week we told you that the new Jack Ryan movie lost it’s director and was in fast need of a new one. Variety is reporting that they have found their new director:

Paramount and Skydance Pictures moved quickly to find their next director — and it’s Kenneth Branagh… The untitled pic, based on the character created by Tom Clancy, has been a priority at Paramount since Chris Pine came aboard to star, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura producing.

The movie is likely to get underway after Star Trek 2 finishes, giving star Chris Pine time to finish his other big franchise and giving time for Branagh to clear off what ever is on his current plate. This is fantastic news for the movie which was in unstable shape after it lost its previous director.

Bringing on Branagh is one of the boldest choices they could have made and represents a big plus for this flick. Although, it is still looking for a title so hopefully we won’t be saying the Untitled Jack Ryan movie for much longer.

Fans of the Marvel franchise had a pretty big feast this year with Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger hitting theaters back to back this year. Now that those stories have been established, it’s time to look forward and see what the sequels have in store for us.

The first getting ready for production is Thor 2, which has already lost original director Kenneth Branagh before the film even went into pre-production. Now we’re getting word from THR that the film is losing its second director in Patty Jenkins (The Killing).

The filmmaker was to have been the first female director of a Marvel Studios movie.

Alas, “creative differences” are being blamed.

The Marvel movie machine just keeps on chugging. With Thor released earlier this year, Captain America set for next month and Joss Whedon’s Avengers on the way, Marvel has now set its sights on a sequel to Thor.

The studio has reportedly set a Summer 2013 release for the sequel to the film which featured Chris Hemsworth as the title character. He is expected to return for the sequel but, good or bad depending upon your thoughts about the first film, director Kenneth Branagh reportedly will not be back for the second installment.

According to the report, the director’s exit from the production was “mutual and amicable. ” That’s nice, Of course, if it wasn’t, nobody would ever say anything. People gotta keep working in Hollywood after all so you don’t want to burn any bridges . . . if you can help it.

Marvel has already set Iron Man 3 with Robert Downey Jr. to open on May 3, 2013 so expect Thor 2 to hit theaters more like July. No word yet on other cast members from the first film such as Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings or Tom Hiddleston returning for the sequel.

However, for big movies like this actors usually are contracted for at least two films, with an option for a third, so I would expect those actors to be back as well. We’ll keep an eye on this as it develops.