Kenneth Branagh Enters Negotiations To Direct Self in Jack Ryan Reboot

Girlishly dreaming of himself with facial hair again sculpted into a sinister Van Dyke, Kenneth Branagh has entered negotiations to play the evil villain in the Jack Ryan thriller he's already directing.

Chris Pine remains attached to play Ryan--taking over the Tom Clancy character previously played by Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October, Harrison Ford Patriot Games/Clear and Present Danger), and Ben Affleck (the one with Morgan Freeman)--and if these semi-redundant talks with Branagh work out, the Thor director would play antagonist Viktor Stazov, a character described by THR as "a financial wiz who, with the help of the Russian government, masterminds a plot to devalue American currency and thus destroy the U.S. economy." LIKE WE NEED ANY HELP WITH THAT. (Edgy political humor.)