Despite some chatter mid-Thursday that Joel Edgerton was Tony Gilroy’s man for the Bourne Legacy’s central role, it would seem that the director and studio backers Universal have settled on Jeremy Renner.
While Deadline brings word of the studio formally offering the role to Renner, the real credit must be given to the fine fellows of Latino Review, who got wind of the casting choice at the start of the month, and spent the day trying to convince everyone that it wasn’t some big April Fool’s prank.
Well, no one is laughing now, except possibly Renner’s accountant as he’ll likely score a healthy payday if signs the deal, which is now looking close to certain provided the scheduling can be worked out. His name was among the scores of actors considered as Gilroy tried to narrow down who would play the main man in the Bourne spin-off, which focuses on an operative in a secret government program that’s even more dangerous than Treadstone, the unit that helped make Jason Bourne the lethal killing machine he is.
It’s just the latest in a string of high-profile roles that Renner has scored in his newly resurgent career following The Hurt Locker. Since that Oscar-nominated role, he’s gone on to** T****he Town** (scoring another golden baldie nod in the process), **Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol **and Hawkeye in a Thor cameo before he shoots The Avengers. Oh, and not forgetting he’s also busy playing Hansel alongside Gemma Arterton’s Gretel as they hunt witches in, er, Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters…