Chad Stahelski, who has directed every film in Lionsgate’s hit John Wick franchise, has signed on to direct Rainbow Six for Paramount. The film is a sequel to Michael B. Jordan‘s action movie Without Remorse, which Paramount sold off to Amazon Prime Video at the height of the pandemic when movie theaters were closed.
Though Without Remorse premiered exclusively on Prime Video on April 30, 2021, Paramount intends to release Rainbow Six theatrically, especially now that audiences around the world are familiar with the spy property thanks to Amazon’s global reach.
Rainbow Six is based on the novel by Tom Clancy, and it will find Jordan reprising his role as John Clark, a former Navy SEAL turned CIA operative, who was a supporting character in Clancy’s series of Jack Ryan books. Rainbow Six proved to be so popular with readers that it even spawned a line of video games.
Jordan will produce the Rainbow Six movie under his Outlier Society banner along with partner Elizabeth Raposo, plus Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans of Weed Road, and Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec of The Saw Mill. Stahelski will executive produce under his 87Eleven banner alongside Jason Spitz and Alex Young.
To be honest, this kind of seems like a step down for Stahelski, as Without Remorse wasn’t a terribly well-liked movie — 45 percent fresh among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but more concerningly, only 38 percent fresh among audiences — and the direction from Stefano Sollima wasn’t the problem, as the film actually looked pretty good and boasted some nifty action set pieces. Stahelski can direct action as well as anyone right now, so in that sense, he’s a great fit for the project, I’m just surprised he didn’t hold out for a higher-profile studio assignment, though Jordan is as strong a franchise building block as any. The director just strikes me as a stronger fit for the DCU that James Gunn is putting together, but perhaps Paramount has offered him a certain level of creative freedom on Rainbow Six.
Stahelski recently produced Jamie Foxx‘s vampire hunting movie Day Shift, which debuted on Netflix last year, and he continues to develop a Highlander remake that is slated to star Henry Cavill, though that project has been in development nearly as long as I’ve been a reporter, so I wouldn’t exactly hold my breath. John Wick: Chapter 4 will put a beating on the box office when it hits theaters on March 24.
Stahelski is represented by WME, and the Hollywood Reporter broke the news of his hiring on Rainbow Six.
