After some earlier reports today that Animal Kingdom star Joel Edgerton was the top choice for Tony Gilroy‘s The Bourne Legacy, a new contender has emerged. As it was hinted earlier this month the Oscar-nominated star of The Hurt Locker and The Town, Jeremy Renner, has been offered the lead role to the action blockbuster.
He is “expected to sign on quickly” and will not play Bourne, but rather a new character in this spinoff. Renner will play “an operative from a covert government program that is even more dangerous than the Treadstone brainwashing program that hatched Bourne.” This will mark the second franchise Renner effectively carries the torch, with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol hitting theaters later this year. But unlike that film, with Tom Cruise starring, this is a solo effort for Renner with no help from Matt Damon.
Universal has been testing actors for the last eight weeks but landed on Renner due to the upward spiral of his career. Personally, I don’t have a problem with his decision, but it may be odd for filmgoers to see this actor playing two separate action stars for franchises that are intended to have a longer shelf life. This would be similar to Ryan Reynolds, who will be seen in Green Lantern this summer and, if he decides to take it on, the Deadpool spin-off.
Other actors that were close to getting the Bourne lead include Dominic Cooper, Garrett Hedlund, Luke Evans, Taylor Kitsch and Anthony Mackie. In another quick tidbit Vulture reports the read part of the script and “the film opens with one hell of a chase scene that’s carried out on foot.” That should be enough of a tease for now.
Universal plans to release the film summer 2012 with production beginning in September.
What do you think of Renner becoming the next Bourne star?