Q&A Hollywood
Q: Are they making another season of “Jack Ryan”? I've really enjoyed it so far.
A: They are making a third season as we speak. Unfortunately, they aren't far enough along to announce a premiere date.
What they have announced, though, are some plot and casting details, and there's plenty there to get you excited if you're a fan of twisty thrillers, big-budget action or the great character actor James Cosmo. (For a certain type of screen fan, the latter piece is the biggest news.)
Cosmo has been a screen fixture for decades, appearing in small but complex roles in period pieces such as 1995's “Braveheart” and 2004's “Troy.” Lately, though, he may be best known as the gruffly paternal Jeor Mormont in “Game of Thrones,” who mentored Jon Snow prior to his predictably grim, though heroic, death.
On “Jack Ryan,” Cosmo will be playing a character named Luca, though not much more is known about him at present.
Plot-wise, we know that in the upcoming third season Jack will be on the run from both a group of bad guys he's uncovered and from his own Central Intelligence Agency, who think he's gone rogue (according to Deadline.com). He's “out in the cold” in the grand spy-fiction tradition, running around Europe trying to clear his name and foil the villains' schemes.
Q:Where did the line, “You can run, but you can't hide,” come from? Is it a quote from a movie?
A: It's a line, but it's not a movie line — at least not originally.
The first recorded use is from the great American heavyweight boxer Joe Louis. He was asked about his upcoming fight with challenger Billy Conn and whether the lighter Conn would employ a hit-and-run strategy. Louis responded, “He can run, but he can't hide.”
He proved himself right, knocking out Conn in the 13th round (back when title fights had 15 rounds, instead of the current 12).
It's understandable to assume the line is a movie reference — it's well-established in the English lexicon of threats, much like, “This time it's personal” (originally the tagline of 1987's “Jaws: The Revenge”) and “I'll make him an offer he can't refuse” (from 1972's “The Godfather”) — but this classic line is instead part of the great collection of quips from wellspoken, pithy prizefighters.
It puts Louis in league with the endlessly quotable Muhammad Ali, another fighter whose mouth was as fast as his hands.
Q:What happened to that “Name of the Rose” show on Sundance?
A: It ran its course — it named its rose (depending on how you interpret the title).
This version of “The Name of the Rose” (not to be confused with the 1986 Sean Connery movie) was created as a miniseries, so only one season was ever planned.
It was based on the novel of the same name by Umberto Eco, a murder mystery set in a medieval monastery.
The show had a big killer reveal at the end and everything, meaning it didn't really have anywhere to go if it did want a second season — though it's unlikely it would have gotten one anyway. It was poorly received in the North American ratings and by critics, who called it confusing and overstuffed (the headline of The Guardian's review said “too many monks spoil the plot”).
To be fair, though, it was never meant for North American audiences. Produced in Italy and Germany, it was only subsequently sold to other markets. In fact, there's a good chance a lot of people reading this don't even know what we're talking about — the show aired on the highnumbered Sundance TV cable channel and averaged a mere 93,000 viewers per episode.
Nonetheless, the dialogue was at least partly in English, and it was co-produced and co-written by American star John Turturro (“Barton Fink,” 1991), who also played the lead role. (They were clearly hoping for at least some North American success.)