"Renner 100% locked" into The Master

The Playlist - your primary source for all breaking news updates regarding The Master - is now reporting that Jeremy Renner is going to play Freddie Sutton. The score is now 3-1. In their words:

So one could argue that THR already confirmed this — and sites like us and Vulture were confused with their weird verbiage — and we'd be fine with that, but we've been told by a couple very good sources, what you've probably figured out already: Jeremy Renner is now 100% locked in to take the role of the drunken, existentially lost drifter, Freddie Sutton in Paul Thomas Anderson's take down of Scientology religion in a currently untitled film project, affectionately known to fans as "The Master."

An official announcement should be made soon. The question about funding and when this will shoot still needs clarification (River Road was last rumored to be footing the bill). We've heard the project will go in front of cameras "soon" (our guess is late summer/or the fall) but we suppose that despite Universal passing on the project, the film that now has Renner and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a surrogate for L. Ron Hubbard is moving forward (read more details in our thorough script review). More details as we get them 

Freddie Not Played by Jeremy Renner

Despite two posts saying he was involved, The Playlist is now saying Jeremy Renner has backed out of The Master due to scheduling conflicts. Here is what they had to report:

After his critically acclaimed turn as Sgt. William James in Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker," Jeremy Renner has found himself an interesting bunch of projects to potentially follow up with.

The actor first joined James McTeigue's upcoming murder mystery centering on Edgar Allen Poe's last days (described as "The Raven" meets "Se7en") but has also been linked to roles in Peter Berg's film adaptation of board game "Battleship" as well as a collaboration with auteur Paul Thomas Anderson and Phillip Seymour Hoffman on their untitled Scientology drama.

However, in a sidenote to Taylor Kitsch's casting in "Battleship" today, Renner has reportedly passed on Anderson's project with "scheduling conflicts preventing his involvement" — the same conflict also caused him to pull out of Berg's film. With "Battleship" scheduled to shoot this summer, it's not known what project is causing the issue though it could very well be McTeigue's "The Raven."

But wait, does this mean Anderson's religious drama is also shooting this summer despite it's studio woes? Have River Road stepped up to the plate after Universal passed? It had been thought such backing issues would cause the film's production to be delayed and open up the calendar for Renner but all this was, of course, before the other Renner project was slated to shoot at the same time.

Renner's exclusion from PTA's film is disappointing but may ultimately make things easier. His link had stirred a little controversy as his potential role, Freddie, was written as a young, impressionable 20-something drifter in an early draft. Our original script review had actually proposed "There Will Be Blood" star Paul Dano for the role, who is 14 years younger than Renner. Of course, there's also the possibility that the religious drama had undergone rewrites, after all, Renner had reportedly taken at least five meetings with Anderson.

Either way, we're sure this is just the tip of the iceberg to the story with details surrounding what's happening with Renner, "The Raven" and PTA's religious drama likely to hit soon if both are in fact set for summer shoots.