Jeremy Renner Set to Topline THE BOURNE LEGACY

Well, it looks like the search is finally over. Universal Pictures has officially offered Jeremy Renner the lead role in Tony Gilroy’s The Bourne Legacy. Deadline confirms what Latino Review reported earlier this month: that Renner will be taking over the franchise that kicked Matt Damon’s career into high-gear. Written and directed by Gilrory, the film will apparently take place in the same universe as Paul Greengrass and Doug Liman’s previous films, but won’t feature Damon’s Jason Bourne character (a fact that doesn’t seem to hinder Universal from strapping the Bourne name on the film). Legacy will further explore the Treadstone and Blackbriar mythos that permeated throughout the previous films, possibly exploring other similar agents and groups.

Universal cast a very wide net in searching for their Legacy star, with basically every fairly well-known male actor between the ages of 18-40 meeting for the role (names included Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Hedlund, Taylor Kitsch, Josh Hartnett, etc.). Hit the jump for more.

I think Renner is a fine actor, more than proving himself capable of handling heavy material in the past few years, but at 40 he’s certainly not young. Nevertheless, we know next to nothing in the way of plot details, and Gilroy and Co. seem to think they’ve found their man, so it’s a bit soon to rightly pass judgment.

Damon is still hopeful that he and Greengrass can reunite in the future for another go-around with the original Bourne, and previously stated that as long as Gilroy’s flick gives them room to come back, he’s thrilled. To catch up on all of our coverage on The Bourne Legacy, click here. Filming is set to start this September, with a release slated for August 3^rd, 2012.