Jeremy Renner has signed on to portray American gunfighter and dentist Doc Holliday in a new biopic.
The untitled biopic will be based on Mary Doria Russell’s books Doc and Epitaph: A Novel Of The O.K. Corral.
Holliday is most famous for his friendship with lawman Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the Arizona territory in 1881.
The Avengers star will produce the project alongside Kevin Frakes and Don Handfield.
“We are excited to re-introduce this classic American character to a whole new audience by chronicling Doc Holliday’s incredible transformation from Average Joe dentist to a man who Wyatt Earp called the nerviest, speediest, deadliest man with a six-gun (he) ever knew,” a joint statement from Renner and Handfield reads.
Renner is not the only actor to portray Holliday – Kirk Douglas played him in 1957’s Gunfight At The O.K. Corral and Stacey Keach played him in 1971’s Doc, while Dennis Quaid and Val Kilmer tackled the role of Doc Holliday in 1994’s Wyatt Earp and 1993’s Tombstone, respectively.
It is unclear when the Holliday biopic will film, but 46-year-old Renner has a busy schedule ahead of him – he is set to reprise his role as Hawkeye in Avengers: Infinity War, which is due out next year (18).
He will also reportedly step back into his role as Aaron Cross in a new movie in the Bourne franchise.
Details about the project have yet to be released, but Justin Lin was at one time attached to direct the film. Jeremy has also previously said he’d be up for a crossover with Aaron Cross and Jason Bourne, who is played by Matt Damon.
“Yeah, I mean in two seconds. I love that world. I love the character. If they want to do that, I’m in. there’s no ‘no’ coming from this direction,” he told screenrant.com in 2015.
