If you had to ask right now who’s having a better go of things, Jeremy Renner or director Dennis Villeneuve, it’d be a tough call. Renner’s next ‘Bourne’ franchise installment has been delayed, but he’s got an ‘Avengers’ film on the way and an appearance in another ‘Mission Impossible’ movie this summer. Villeneuve, the Academy Award-nominated director of “Incendies,” is coming off the one-two punch of “Enemy” and “Prisoners,” which has been a key step in revitalizing Jake Gyllenhaal’s career. He’s got his next thriller coming out in September — “Sicario” starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Jon Bernthal — and perhaps more importantly is that all this fine work has been noticed: he’s just been pegged to direct the “Blade Runner” sequel that Harrison Ford just agreed to appear in.
Suffice it to say, neither man is sweating it at the moment, which is perhaps why they are coming together for yet another project Villeneuve has in the works. With “Sicario” basically in the can, ready for the fall, the French Canadian filmmaker has his eyes on a sci-fi film called “Story Of Your Life,” already starring Amy Adams. THR reports that Renner has joined the cast as the male lead. Already a hotly anticipated title, Renner’s addition makes the film — based on a short story by Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author Ted Chiang — even more tantalizing. Adams plays an expert linguist whose world is forever changed when an alien crafts land around the world and she is recruited by the military to determine whether they are a threat or not. Renner will play the physics professor that the government pairs up with Adams’ character to help communicate with the aliens.
So that’s really enough, but there’s even more for comic book fans. It appears that Renner is now confirmed to reprise his role as Hawkeye in “Captain America: Civil War.” That’s going to be a jam-packed superhero adventure that some are already dubbing “Avengers 2.5” as it stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, a possible Spider-Man cameo from whatever actor ends up taking that role, potentially Anthony Mackie, and who knows what other Marvel actors will join the fold.
“Captain America: Civil War” is set for a spring shoot while “Story Of Your Life” will begin production in June, meaning we’ll likely have two Denis Villeneuve films probably see the light of day in the span of twelve months.