According to a new report at Deadline, both Warner Brothers and Paramount are trying to develop the video game series Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell as a live-action motion picture, and appear to be competing to assemble a pitch that could win the rights away from the other.Clancy, one of the best-selling American authors of the last thirty years, has had an uneven record with his books being adapted as films. So far, the only of his works to be adapted have been the Jack Ryan spy thrillers and while The Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games were all hits and well-liked by critics, the Ben Affleck-starring Sum of All Fears was neither. A recent attempt to reboot the Jack Ryan film franchise seems to be stuck in the mud, with no specific release date, although Star Trek‘s Chris Pine is set to star in the film, to be directed by Thor‘s Kenneth Branagh.All of those previous films were produced by Paramount, which would seem to give them a leg up on Warners in negotiating for Splinter Cell.
