Kevin Costner and his wife Christine Baumgartner attended the premiere together, with Costner seeing parallels in this film with one of his most famous titles, The Untouchables. At the same press conference, the Academy Award winner admitted that in his 90's heyday he would have definitely consider the role of Jack Ryan - played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck over the years - had it been offered to him, but he is happy to assume a role he compared to Sean Connery's in the prohibition-era gangster film.

Kevin Costner Christine Baumgartner
Costner and his wife Christine Christine Baumgartner attended the premiere together

"Smarter directors will do this from time to time. They’ll have a supporting role, and they’ll put a leading man in it, because they either know how to inhabit the screen," Costner said at the press conference. "Nowhere was this better than when Sean Connery came in and played the little Irish street cop. And you realized how formidable he was. I remember saying to Sean, ‘You know, this has got enough meat on the bone. You really could win the Academy Award.’ And Brian [De Palma] could have gone with any character actor to fill that part with an Irish brogue, and he said, ‘No, we’re going to go with arguably the biggest star – the biggest star I’ve ever worked with in my life – to play this."

Critics offered a mixed consensus of the film

Producer Mace Neufeld would have wanted to get in the biggest stars he could for the film and whilst it can still be debated whether or not Costner can still be considered a huge actor, as long as Costner's appearance helps sell tickets he will be satisfied.

Mace Neufeld Kevin Costner
Mace Neufeld didn't want to hire Costner until now

Neufeld has produced every Ryan film to date, from The Hunt For Red October to The Sum of All Fears and now Shadow Recruit, and should the film heed a few sequels and turn into a franchise, which it is more than likely going to do, you can expect to see Mace's name attached to each project. He said at the press conference for the film that Ryan has retained his all-American, boy scout charm for an outing that will hopefully wield success.

Check out the trailer for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

"He’s referred to in Clear and Present Danger, disparagingly, as a ‘boy scout.’ But those qualities that a boy scout is supposed to have appeal to an audience," Neufeld said at the conference. "Jack is really smart. He has to jump to his own conclusions. He’s somebody who you would like to have as a friend, or even a neighbor. Because you know that if your house ever were to catch on fire and you had to throw your baby out of the top window, you know that Jack would be there to catch them."

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit opens in cinemas on 17 January in the US and 24 Jan. in the UK.

Chris Pine Jack Ryan
Will Pine make a good Ryan?