Every time I do another story on Hollywood’s cyclical quest to make another Jack Ryan movie, I feel like I have to explain who he is. The thing is, while people know Hunt for Red October and all the other movies the character has appeared in, they don’t really associate those movies with one specific person. Sure they’re all based on Tom Clancy novels and sure the main characters in Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears have the same name… but truthfully beyond that they have so little to do with one another you have to wonder why Hollywood is so intent on continuing to resurrect the character. It’s not as if he’s really a franchise. He’s not James Bond. He’s not even Jason Bourne.

Yet here we go again. The latest in Jack Ryan rumors was discovered by the eagle eyes over at JoBlo, buried in a Daily Beast story on George Clooney. They say George is looking for a new franchise to hitch his wagon to now that the Ocean’s thing is done for and he’s expressed interest in playing Jack Ryan should Paramount ever bring him back for another case of political intrigue and nuclear armament.

At one point Paramount was dead set on rebooting the whole Jack Ryan pseudo universe and going younger with it, but the project has changed directions so many times who knows what they’re planning. If Clooney wants the job, his name is big enough that they may well change direction again, just to get his famous face on the poster.