Paramount Pictures is in negotiations with Sam Raimi to spearhead a franchise revival of Jack Ryan, the Tom Clancy-created CIA analyst character who drove four hit movies for the studio.

The intention is to generate several films Raimi would develop and direct, featuring Ryan at a younger, more formative point in his career than previously depicted. One invention the studio is considering is to set the film in the present, with the action triggered by a global threat.

Par will draft a scribe to write a Ryan movie that Raimi would shoot after he completes the Universal horror film "Drag Me to Hell." Paramount wants the Ryan movie ready for release in summer 2010.

Ryan is the cerebral CIA analyst who climbed the political ladder and became an Everyman action hero star in a quartet of films spearheaded by producer Mace Neufeld. Alec Baldwin originated Ryan in 1990's "The Hunt for Red October" and when Baldwin famously jumped ship to do "A Streetcar Named Desire" on Broadway, Harrison Ford replaced him in 1992's "Patriot Games" and 1994's "Clear and Present Danger." Ben Affleck played Ryan in 2002's "The Sum of All Fears." The four films grossed $781.5 million worldwide.