After breaking out into the big leagues with his stunning performance in last year’s Best Picture winner, “The Hurt Locker,” Jeremy Renner has become one of the most in-demand names around. He gave an equally great performance in Ben Affleck‘s “The Town,” before signing on to join Tom Cruise in “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” the indie-noir “Better Living Through Chemistry” and to play Hawkeye in “The Avengers,” as well as being linked to projects like “The Raven,” “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters“ and Paul Thomas Anderson‘s “The Master.”
Bloody Disgusting have brought news that the actor may now be in contention for another high-profile role: Snake Plissken, originally embodied by Kurt Russell, in New Line‘s forthcoming remake of John Carpenter‘s “Escape From New York.” Breck Eisner (“The Crazies“) is directing the new version, which last we heard had a script from mega-hack Allan Loeb (“The Dilemma“), and will again follow the eyepatched hero (who, let’s not forget, New Line’s contract with Carpenter specifies “always has to be a badass”) on a 24-hour mission to rescue the President from the post-apocalyptic wasteland that Manhattan has become.
It should be noted that this is an offer story, and not a particularly solid one at that — while the site has a good track record, it’s already backtracked from the post, saying that “This is VERY early and a premature announcement.” Renner’s obviously a busy man, and (hopefully) may feel a little tentpoled out after “Mission Impossible” and “The Avengers.” Eisner has also mentioned Timothy Olyphant for the role, say that “creatively” he would be a great choice, and seems very hot on the idea of casting him. But obviously, there are a lot of studio people that have to give their stamp of approval before the next eyepatch-wearing badass is selected.
If it does happen, and it probably won’t, Renner’s at least a better choice than the constantly-smirking Gerard Butler, who was attached to a prior, Len Wiseman-helmed incarnation of the film a few years back — he’s got the right amount of roguish charm for the part at least. The original hasn’t dated particularly well, but we’re still not sure about the prospect of a remake, particularly one coming from Breck Eisner, who was behind the exactly half-decent “The Crazies,” and the not-at-all decent “Sahara.” Time will tell, we suppose.
