Jeremy Renner Could Be Headed to E4

No, that never gets old.

It is always great to see the rise of an actor who is making his way from the arthouse to the awards podium to bigger and brighter things.  Such is the case of Jeremy Renner, whose praises I have been singing since seeing him headline the 2002 indie flick DAHMER.  With an Academy Award nomination now under his belt, THE HURT LOCKER star is prepping his next films, and one of them could be a blockbuster.

According to a report from Reuters, Renner is in talks to take on the lead role of Universal’s adaptation of BATTLESHIP to be helmed by Peter Berg.  This bit of news comes just 10 days after it was announced BATTLESHIP would be moving its release date back from July 29th, 2011 to Memorial Day, 2012.

The film is scheduled to shoot this coming Summer, and Renner may have to make a decision.  He revealed to Reuters he has had at least five meetings with the producers of another, as yet unrevealed project which would also be shooting this coming Summer.

Says Renner about the success and the potential in the industry THE HURT LOCKER has given him:

(‘Locker’ has) allowed me to exhale and go, ‘OK, now I can really start.’  Maybe it’s a form of arrival, maybe it’s a type of beginning.

Personally, I would rather see him take on a different role than the lead in BATTLESHIP.  Yes, it would be a great opportunity for him to headline a big budget, Summer movie like that, but he is slowly sinking into a pigeonhole of playing these military types that I think he is better than.  It gladdens me to hear in this same report he has signed on to star alongside Ewan McGregor in RAVEN, an indie, period thriller to be shot before Summer hits.

Nonetheless, it is great to see Renner getting recognized for his talent.  Let’s just hope that pigeonhole doesn’t get filled any time soon.