Jeremy Renner joins “Knives Out 3” after snowplow accident

Jeremy Renner has found his first film role since his near-fatal snow plowing accident. Renner is the latest star to join Rian Johnson’s new “Knives Out” film, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” a Netflix representative confirmed to The Times on Thursday.

The “Hawkeye” actor joins an already star-studded cast that includes Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington, Glenn Close and the returning Daniel Craig. “Challengers” lead Josh O’Connor, “Priscilla” star Cailee Spaeny and “Fleabag” actor Andrew Scott also appear in the crime thriller. Johnson returns as writer and director.

Wake Up Dead Man is the final film in Netflix’s $450 million two-film acquisition. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) is the streaming giant’s ninth most-watched English-language film of all time, with more than 136 million views. The first film was distributed by Lionsgate and grossed approximately $313 million at the worldwide box office.

Renner was struck by a 7-ton snow plow on New Year’s Day 2023. He was thrown from the machine as he attempted to clear his driveway. When Renner attempted to stop the snow plow as it was heading downhill toward his nephew, he veered into the machine’s path and ultimately ended up in critical condition. The accident left him with 38 broken bones and a collapsed lung, as well as significant chest trauma.

“I relive it every night,” Renner told the Times in May. “It’s in my visions. It’s in my dreams and my waking thoughts.”

Doctors originally said it would take him years to walk, Renner told the Times, but because of his self-proclaimed stubbornness, he was able to walk with a cane after three months.

He told the Times that recovery was a “one-way street”: “It’s not even like an Ikea piece of furniture – there are no directions. You go in one direction: you get well. How easy is that? You just remember what you did or couldn’t do yesterday and then try it today.”

Renner returned to acting in January, filming season 3 of the Paramount+ show “Mayor of Kingstown,” which premieres Sunday.

“I’m trying to create something true and make the audience believe it while I’m trying to learn to walk again, put one foot in front of the other and not get up in pain. I’m doing all these things to find my footing on this planet again,” Renner said.

Season 2 of Mayor of Kingstown premiered just two weeks after Renner’s accident. Created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, the series is set in a prison town where Renner plays the titular mayor, and tackles issues such as racism and corruption within the American for-profit prison industry.