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.
That last paragraph makes it seem like Villeneuve is directing the Captain America movie.
Gyllenhaal signed onto Enemy knowing its extremely limited appeal. He then helped to expand a stock, throaway cop role in Prisoners, using his experience from experimental theater. To wit, Bale passed on an offer, without understanding Villeneuve\’s need to shoot Enemy before Prisoners, not after. The Quebecois needed to hone his direction in a second language, and ease into the studio system with new allies he could trust. Very pat to characterize Villeneuve as strictly doing Gyllenhaal a favor, instead of Gyllenhaal as among Villeneuve\’s admirers who took risks to help an auteur protect his identity — in a system prone to require compromise from foreign directors making inroads.
All of this news is awesome. People who have attended the AoU screening that I\’ve heard from so far say that Hawkeye is a standout this time around. If that\’s true, then I\’m happy to hear there are plans for more of him. I think I\’m even more excited about the Villeneuve project though–great actors & a fantastic director & story. Renner was unbelievably good in Kill the Messenger last year, I hope he has a chance to bring something like that on screen again. If so–with Adams on board–this could be 1 hell of a film.
Civil War has a hell of a lineup:
– Cap
– Iron Man
– Black Widow
– Hawkeye
– Black Panther
– Spider-Man
– Falcon
– Winter Soldier
– Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl)
– Crossbones (Frank Grillo)
– Agent 13
– Maria Hill? Most likely.
– Nick Fury? Most likely
Then there\’s Ant-Man, Wasp, the Netflix heroes (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist), Phil Coulson and any number of his SHIELD group, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and the Vision.
It\’s like Avengers 3.8 – Anthony Mackie
Well, sounds like Hawkeye won\’t be the one who bites the dust in Age of Ultron if Whedon decided to kill off a main character like its been rumored. Great news though, I\’m a big fan of both Renner and Villeneuve.
It\’s \’Sicario\’ not \’Siscario\’.
That last paragraph makes it seem like Villeneuve is directing the Captain America movie.