First Look at Jeremy Renner in 'The Bourne Legacy'

Friday, 06 January 2012 10:13 Written by Jordan DeSaulnier

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First Look at Jeremy Renner in 'The Bourne Legacy'

Before Doug Liman's The Bourne Identity came about a decade ago, the idea of Matt Damon as an unstoppably badass amnesiac assassin was sort of laughable. How times change. After the Bourne franchise got bigger with two subsequent installments under director Paul Greengrass, Damon and the helmer opted not to return for a fourth go-around. Looking to capitalize on the franchise even without the central figures, Universal Pictures has gone ahead with The Bourne Legacy, which does not, in fact, feature Jason Bourne.

Instead, Jeremy Renner is taking over as a new, Bournesque character who goes by the name Aaron Cross. As part of the end of the week image-palooza, we now have our first official look at Cross in The Bourne Legacy. How does he look? Almost exactly like you'd expect. The one-time star of National Lampoon's Senior Trip* is mean-mugging with the conviction of a two-time Oscar nominee, and he's wearing a pretty cool jacket too.

Renner's a damn fine choice to play a cooler than cool Treadstone-trained assassin, and we'll soon see if his charisma can keep this cinematic series going without its established star. This first look at The Bourne Legacy appeared in USA Today's preview of twelve movies to get psyched about in 2012.

Tony Gilroy, who directed Michael Clayton and contributed to the screenplays for all three previous Bourne movies, takes over as director here, meaning Greengrass's shakiest of shakeycams will probably be smoothed out substantially. Renner leads the action, but Gilroy's cast includes familiar franchise actors Joan Allen, Scott Glenn, and Albert Finney. Rachel Weisz is a newbie, along with Edward Norton as the bad guy. Corey Stoll, Oscar Isaac, and Stacy Keach also get in on the ass-kicking shenanigans, too.

The Bourne Legacy arrives in theaters on August 3rd, meaning we might just be seeing a trailer sometime fairly soon.

*I don't allude to Senior Trip mockingly. I remember seeing this movie on VHS and loving it. How times change, indeed.