Actor Also Remains Non-Committal About PTA’s ‘The Master’ & Tommy Wirkola’s ‘Hansel & Gretel’
Jeremy Renner‘s in talks to star as Snake Plissken in New Line‘s forthcoming remake of John Carpenter‘s eighties dystopian classic “Escape From New York” with Breck Eisner (”The Crazies”) directing, right?
Not so fast Mac, stepping into Kurt Russell‘s shoes in the iconic Plissken role would be a hard to live up to, but he doesn’t have to worry because according to “The Hurt Locker” star that rumor was totally false.
“No, there’s no truth to that,” Renner told MTV this week. “Someone told me about it and then I saw it online. I was like, ‘That’s news to me as well.’ I didn’t know anything about it.”
All’s well that’s ends well? We’d like to think of this as the second tentpole he’s turned down (he passed on Peter Berg‘s “Battleship“), but obviously this is a completely different scenario and he is currently working on a little film called, “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” with a guy named Tom Cruise and then following that will appear in a smaller up and coming film called, “The Avengers.” So much for this writer’s hopes that he’ll stay indie.
Meanwhile, speaking of more indie-ish films, Thompson On Hollywood spoke to Renner this week doing the Oscar press rounds for “The Town” and the actor sounded a little non-committal when discussing a few projects that he may or may not be officially attached to. One is Tommy Wirkola‘s “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” (he directed the Nazi/Zombies movie “Dead Snow“) which he’s rumored to star in with rising starlet Noomi Rapace (“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo“). Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are lending their name to the project as executive producers too, but all Renner will say is, “It’s an idea,” noting that it’s still early days. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with it.”
What about Paul Thomas Anderson‘s untitled Scientology film starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, the film he allegedly passed on “Battleship” to make, but it couldn’t get off the ground this summer (though Renner’s own comments earlier this fall suggest that PTA tabled and or delayed the film under his own volition). “He’s swimming out there somewhere, probably typing behind a computer,” Renner said, not conceding too much, but clearly in awe of the director’s talents. “That guy is genius. If he was directing the phone book I’d be in it.” Well, at least that sounds optimistic. Those are two projects we’re dying to see come to the screen, so here’s hoping.
