Taking a beat from playing heroic archer Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jeremy Renner has closed a deal to star opposite Amy Adams in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi drama Story of Your Life.
The Paramount pic, an adaptation of Hugo Award-winning author Ted Chiang’s short story, takes place in a world reeling from the sudden arrival of alien crafts around the world. As world leaders grapple with the new species, an expert linguist (Adams) is recruited by the military to determine whether the aliens come in peace or pose a grave threat to humanity. As she slowly learns to communicate with the aliens, she begins to experience intense flashbacks, which could hold the key to figuring out what the aliens want from Earth.
Renner will take on the supporting role of a physics professor who joins the linguist in her quest to understand the extraterrestrial visitors.
Eric Heisserer (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hours) penned the script for the project, which was sold to Paramount for a stunning $20 million at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
With Incendies, Prisoners and Enemy under his belt, Denis Villeneuve has quickly proven himself to be one of the best directors today at building tension to near-searing levels. Hollywood has taken notice, too, tasking Villeneuve with directing a hotly anticipated (and Harrison Ford-heavy) sequel to the classic sci-fi thriller Blade Runner.
Shooting is expected to begin in mid-June, putting the project ahead of Villeneuve’s Blade Runner sequel. With two tremendously talented thesps in the lead role and a hot-ticket director like him behind the camera, it’s safe to say that we’re all looking forward to hearing all three tell the Story of Your Life as soon as possible.
