Tom Clancy was one of the “mega authors,” a handful of people who wrote major blockbuster best selling books that earned millions. Once Clancy’s work was adapted into major movies like The Hunt For Red October, and Clear and Present Danger, his name became a brand, like John Grisham and Stephen King. Clancy, who passed away on October 1, was also a force in the world of gaming.
As a report in the L.A. Times tells us, Clancy’s audiences “seemed to grow exponentially as he conquered one media platform after another…Today, millions of young people who’ve never read his novels, and who weren’t alive when the Soviet Union existed, storm Russian cities in the virtual worlds of video games that bear Clancy’s name.”
The Clancy game Rainbow Six was first developed back in 1998, and Splinter Cell launched in 2002. As The Hollywood Reporter remind us, the success of Cell spawned six other games in the series, as well as a number of tie-in novels. (Other Clancy games include EndWar, H.A.W.X., and The Division, which is coming soon from Ubisoft.)
This year, several Clancy games went into development to be made into movies, including Splinter Cell, and Ghost Recon. His cinematic legacy is also getting a reboot this Christmas with Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Having successfully reinvented Captain Kirk, Chris Pine will be taking over the business as Jack Ryan.
