original books is that they were updated to reflect modern technology and political situations. This was done with R. Ludlum's approval and oversight (at least for the first movie).
He intended the movies to convey the feel of the original manuscripts, which were terribly dated.
For one thing, the main protagonist of the original books, Carlos the Jackal, is now dead.
For another, the tech described in the books was, at the time of their debut, state of the art. Nowadays, most of it is almost laughable. R.L. wanted the films to reflect the current tech that you could expect a modern secret agent to use.
Much to the producers' dismay, R.L. had the misfortune to die before the premiere of his project. Fortunately, the format and major story arc for the remaining two films had already been worked out with him. |
