The British actor, who won acclaim as the director of last year's (11) Thor, will take charge of the latest Tom Clancy movie adaptation, which will feature Chris Pine as the book-to-screen hero, according to Variety.

Ryan has been played on the big screen by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck, while the franchise films The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, A Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of All Fears have been directed by John McTiernan, Phillip Noyce and Phil Alden Robinson.