Judi Dench, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Garner Have "Better Living Through Chemistry"

In a short period of time Jeremy Renner has proved to be one of the industry's best acting talents. Anytime you are nominated for Oscars in consecutive years, there is no doubt that you are one of the Hollywood elite. Last year, he lost Best Actor to Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart" for his work in "The Hurt Locker," and this year he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Ben Affleck's "The Town."

Renner is keeping himself busy as well, starring in both "The Avengers" as Hawkeye and as the new face of the "Mission Impossible" franchise in "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol." As if that weren't enough, it looks as if he just added another job to his busy schedule.

According to Variety, Renner, Judi Dench, Jennifer Garner and Michelle Monaghan have all joined the cast of the indie drama "Better Living Through Chemistry."

The $8 million dollar project follows a straight-laced small-town pharmacist stuck in a loveless marriage who rediscovers himself through an affair with a wild, drug-experimenting trophy wife. David Posamentier and Geoff Moore penned the script and are co-directing.

This film sounds like a classic independent drama and that's a good thing. The cast is great--Dench is an acting legend and Garner, Monaghan and Renner are some of Hollywood's best young talents. While Monaghan doesn't have the pedigree of Renner, she has given some excellent performances herself through the years, including in "Gone Baby Gone" and "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang."

Garner has been a personal favorite of mine for years because I was such a big fan of "Alias," but she has proved over the years to be a solid actress.

The cast makes this film a project to watch and could be one of those largely under-the-radar indie hits.

Felipe Marino, Joe Neurauter and Keith Calder will produce the film while shooting will start in August.

Fourth "Mission: Impossible" Gets A Title

The fourth "Mission: Impossible" movie has finally scored an official title: "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol".

According to Gulf News, the title was revealed at a press conference in Dubai where some filming has just gotten underway there on the upcoming sequel.

Asked about the title, Tom Cruise says "one of the things I always wanted for the franchise was for it not to have a number afterwards. I've never done sequels to films and I never thought of these films as sequels."

Scenes are also expected to be shot in the 828m high Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower. Other shooting on the project takes place in Moscow, Prague and Vancouver.

Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, Josh Holloway, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Vladimir Mashkov and Michael Nyqvist all star in the Brad Bird-directed feature which is scheduled for release next December.

Say what you will about the franchise, but when a decent filmmaker is at the helm, such as JJ Abrams or Brad Bird, good things will happen. And when you have two freakin awesome actors like Josh Holloway and Jeremy Renner to steal screen time from Tom Cruise, I think that's a winning formula. Let's hope it all adds up.

And Paula Patton is so hot.

Jeremy Renner Possibly Fills Out Spandex for "The Avengers"

Though its been rumored for months, it now looks like Jeremy Renner is in final negotiations to play Hawkeye in "The Avengers."

According to Heat Vision, Renner was first connected to play the character in "Thor" last year, reports that were shot down as Renner was circling two other projects. Now it seems he'll finally play the character in "Avengers" when it kicks off filming next year.

Renner will play the bow-and-arrow-carrying hero Hawkeye, who--while not one of the initial members of the team when it was created in the 1960s--became an integral member soon after when the misguided villain switched sides.

Renner will join Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Don Cheadle as War Machine.

The Hulk may also be a character in the movie, but there is no deal that would bring back Ed Norton, who starred as the giant in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk."

While this still isn’t fully confirmed, this would be yet another dream casting choice for Marvel and “The Avengers.” Anyone who saw “The Hurt Locker” knows how powerful and amazing Renner can be, but also the confidence and bravado he has onscreen would be perfect for the Hawkeye character. Here’s hoping this works out.

Filming on 'Captain America' kicks off next month in the UK.

Jeremy Renner Lines Up Three Projects

"The Hurt Locker" star Jeremy Renner already has set his next two projects and is heavily considering a top secret third one.

According to Reuters: The first off the block is "Raven," an indie period thriller co-starring Ewan McGregor which Renner begin work on shortly. The story is a fictional spin on acclaimed author Edgar Allan Poe's final five days when he joins a hunt for a serial killer who has been inspired by his macabre stories.

After that Renner is in talks to star in Peter Berg's film adaptation of the classic board game "Battleship" for Universal Pictures. That film goes into production this summer for a May 2012 release.

He's also had half a dozen meetings for another project, but declined to reveal what that would be, other than it will also be shooting over the summer, as well, and he may have to choose between it and "Battleship."

I’ve liked Renner ever since I saw him in “The Assassination of Jesse James,” and his performance in “The Hurt Locker” was one for the ages. I think Peter Berg’s “Battleship” project has a lot of potential, so if Renner chooses to go in that direction, he might have a blockbuster on his hands.

Either way, it will be great to see such a talented actor like Renner up on screen in a few more projects. If you haven’t seen “The Hurt Locker,” go out and get it on DVD, because it’s pure filmmaking at its best and Renner is fantastic.