Though that could change: “I’ve seen bits and pieces of them. Honestly, I’m not just saying this … I really kind of want to see the Chris Nolan one, because he’s so crazy talented, so I’ll keep saying, ‘I gotta go see that, I gotta go see that,’ and then like everything I still want to see, fuck, I just forget. There must be a hundred movies out there. I’ll say, ‘I gotta go see that.’ And then I never get around to seeing them. Or maybe I’ll see it later on television. I’m really bad at that. But I will tell you this: Every time I see clips of his movies, they look awesome. This trailer that’s out now? Fuck, it looks unbelievable.” [ Grantland ]
In a new interview over at The Hollywood Reporter , Jeremy Renner gets real about his on-the-brink career and personal life — like, so real you’ll want to give him a hug and then buy all the tickets for Bourne just to help him on his humble way towards megamillionaire action hero status. He’s either a calculatedly brilliant PR strategist or a walking country song. Either way, this dog-loving, single dude, does-his-own-stunts part-time house-flipper is sure to endear himself to all four quadrants with this profile-boosting piece. Oh Jeremy Renner, don’t be so sad! This moment in time is what historians years from now might consider a turning point in Renner’s career; hot from his breakout roles in The Hurt Locker and The Town , he landed supporting turns in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and the upcoming Avengers , and will soon debut two of his own starring vehicles: 2013’s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and this summer’s The Bourne Legacy , taking over from franchise star Matt Damon . All in all, Renner seems like a fairly well-adjusted guy who’s only now having to deal with fame and all that comes with it. But you know what? Renner’s puppy passed away last month, man, and he is so lonely he refers to his loneliness twice in the same interview. Get the Kleenex ready, people. This shit gets dark. For starters, Renner and bars don’t have the best history. He tells the story of how, on Christmas Eve a few years back, when he was with his family in a bar, “This guy chokes me with the scarf I was wearing. He called me a fag ’cause I was wearing a scarf! Then he shoved my sister and I got behind him and I choked him out — put him to sleep.” Without a trace of irony, he adds, “I’m not violent.” Although, he says, “I’d have gone to prison” if he’d been present when a family member recently was raped. Oh. For that matter, Renner’s pals and bars have it pretty bad, too. And what about that much-reported knife fight in Thailand in January? “It was a silly, tragic accident that happened to this guy,” explains Renner, noting that he had gone to Phuket for a break when an acquaintance made a comment and “got attacked in a bar fight at 4 in the morning. He was saying stuff, and 20 people jumped on him. I was in flip-flops. I don’t do bar fights. Did he deserve to get stabbed and almost murdered by 20 people? F– no.” (Six local men were arrested.) Phew. Time out for some unexpected getting-to-know-youness: Jeremy Renner isn’t just a sometimes house-flipper, he also loves macro photography! In other news, Jeremy Renner has had long-term relationships, but both of them ended. Sadface. As to his long-term involvements, he says he had one five-year relationship with a woman while in his 20s and another that ended two years ago after 4-1/2 years… He met that girlfriend, Jes Macallan — who, as her Twitter account reveals, married actor Jason Gray-Stanford (Monk) on March 17 — when she was 23 and working at a film festival in Florida; subsequently, she decided to go into acting. “That was part of the issue,” says Renner. “I was going through the Hurt Locker campaign and she’s like, ‘Where do I get headshots?'” Are we losing the dudes? Here’s a masculine tidbit to keep the male demo: Renner isn’t one of those sissypants action stars — he does his own stunts! (And pays the price.) On Bourne, “I got injured kicking a table and missing and hyper-extending my leg! I had to get an MRI.” He also hurt his arm, which “will be f–ed up for a while. I can’t really grab anything” with one hand. But forget torn muscles and strained ligaments — the most painful thing to endure on-set is probably the loneliness, which Renner blames for his break-down while shooting The Hurt Locker . “Pure loneliness, that’s what it came down to. It was a whole rainbow of good and bad.” Talking about losing his puppy last month, though, brings the tears. Most recently came the death in March of his 8-month-old French bulldog, Franklin, of a heart attack. For a moment, Renner’s eyes go moist because the puppy touches on the singular problem that has most bedeviled him the past two years. Says Renner, “He was my solution for being so lonely.” Goddammit, Renner. You’re gonna make me cry. The Bourne Legacy is in theaters August 3. Let’s buy up all the tickets so Renner doesn’t feel so alone. Let our box office dollars wash over him like a giant group hug. [ THR ]
Here’s a photo worth a thousand words, or at least four: Meeting with President Obama in February in the Oval Office, Star Trek alum Nichelle Nichols flashed the iconic Vulcan salute alongside the Commander in Chief for the best White House photo op since Elvis and Nixon shook hands in 1970. Live long and prosper! Nichols posted the photo to her Twitter account this week, taken on her February 29 visit to the White House. After the meeting, she Tweeted about her Trek-related conversations with the President: @RealNichelle Nichelle Nichols Months ago Pres Obama was quoted as saying that he’d had a crush on me when he was younger. I asked about that & he proudly confirmed it! Mar 01 via web Favorite Retweet Reply @RealNichelle Nichelle Nichols President Obama also confirmed for me that he was defintely a Trekker! How wonderful is that?! Mar 01 via web Favorite Retweet Reply [via @RealNichelle via EW ]
Ever since growling his way through 2008’s gloriously B-movie-esque B-movie Taken , Liam Neeson ‘s been enjoying his newfound status as the gruff hero with killer instincts and a particular set of skills that you want on your side in the event of a kidnapping/ assassination attempt / jailbreak / wolf attack . So why fix something that ain’t broke? Enter Non-Stop , Neeson’s next actioner and an airplane-set excuse to see Neeson smash heads and deliver straightfaced epic one-liners. Variety reports that Neeson, currently gracing screens reprising the role of Zeus in Wrath of the Titans , is in negotiations to lead the high concept action pic about “a worn-out air marshal who faces a threat while traveling on an international flight.” Simple premise, high bone-crushing potential! We don’t even need to know a single thing more about Non-Stop that what its title and setup tells us. We already know what Neeson can do with some tape and a handful of minibar bottles! Neeson’s upcoming slate features a crapton of action as is, even beyond Wrath ; he co-stars in Peter Berg’s Battleship this May and, as revealed recently, reprises his role of Ra’s Al Ghul in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises in July. The recently-filmed Taken 2 is due in theaters this October, with a plot that sees Neeson’s onscreen daughter Maggie Grace step up to save her now-kidnapped parents. Non-Stop will be directed by Jeff Wadlow ( Cry_Wolf , Never Back Down ) from a spec script by John Richardson and Chris Roach, under superproducer Joel Silver. Fun fact: At 59, Neeson is already five years older than Harrison Ford was when he fought off evildoers thousands of feet above the ground in Air Force One , which also brings to mind the only two things that could make Non-Stop better — A) if worn-out air marshal Neeson was also the President of the United States, and B) if his plane was carrying killer snakes. (Or Sam Jackson.) [ Variety ]
The city of Pittsburgh has Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises production to thank for making it snow in summer and giving newlyweds an unforgettable Kodak moment . Now, in the grand spirit of the Dark Knight Catwoman robber , comes news that a Pittsburgh man was arrested for carjacking in the name of Batman. Isn’t this viral marketing going a little too far, fellas?
As promised last week , teaser materials for Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises have begun to hit the web, starting with your first look at the threequel’s first teaser poster — a nifty upward shot of Gotham City crumbling to reveal a bat shape in the sky. Hit the jump for a full look at the poster and keep an eye out for the also-reported first teaser trailer allegedly hitting this week.
Hold onto your capes, Bat-fans: According to SuperHeroHype, the first teaser trailer for Chris Nolan ‘s summer 2012 sequel The Dark Knight Rises will play in front of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 in theaters next week. Also expected to play for the Potter crowd: Your first look at December’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and November’s Happy Feet 2 . Accio, Batman! [ SuperHeroHype ]
Is Megan Fox getting ready to slip into something, not exactly more comfortable, but much more leathery? Hollywood’s buzzing that Meg is slated to be the next Catwoman when Chris Nolan’s..
