Jeremy Renner had an interesting 2012. He featured in two major franchise movies — "The Avengers" and "The Bourne Legacy" — yet didn't seem to get much of a bump from either. And while "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" opened at number one last weekend, it's not a movie anyone involved is going to be proudly touting. However, 2013 may finally see him live up to that pair of Oscar nominations. He has a role in James Gray's period drama "Lowlife," and he's getting ready to shoot David O. Russell's Abscam project alongside Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams, and now he's lined up another project that is also very promising.
The actor has signed to star in "Kill The Messenger," a long developing movie penned by Peter Landesman ("Parkland") and set to be directed by Michael Cuesta ("Homeland," "Dexter"). And it certainly seems right up the alley of the helmer. Based on the books "Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion" by Gary Webb and Nick Schou’s "Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb," the film will tell the true story of the reporter who detailed the CIA's connection to the crack cocaine trade, only to be smeared as a result, losing his job, falling into depression, eventually leading to his suicide. And you thought "Zero Dark Thirty" was controversial.
The movie will head to the Berlin Film Market for buyers, and production will begin this summer. It sounds like a fascinating story, and some great material that doesn't require Renner to act opposite CGI or spend weeks on action sequences. Here's hoping it's another in what looks to be a string of strong movies. [Deadline]
