Jeremy Renner voices Swifty, an Arctic fox, in the trailer for his upcoming animated movie, Arctic Dogs. 2019 has been an interesting year for the Oscar-nominated actor, to put it delicately. In addition to starring in the highest-grossing film of all time, the Avengers: Endgame veteran has been making music, launched an Amazon store, and even created his own app (which has since shut down after being flooded by trolls). And yet, in spite of all that, his latest project might be his strangest one yet.
Titled Arctic Dogs, the film revolves around Renner's Swifty, who dreams of becoming one of the Arctic's star husky couriers and leaving his dull mail room job behind. However, when he tries to prove that he's worthy of becoming a Top Dog, Swifty ends up getting entangled in a plot to take over the world, as perpetrated by the mechanical-legged Doc Walrus (John Cleese) and his army of puffin henchmen. And if all that wasn't enough, Renner also sings in the movie's newly-unveiled trailer.
IMDb has the exclusive on the official Arctic Dogs trailer, which dropped online this morning. Take a look, below.
Arctic Dogs was directed by Aaron Woodley (Spark: A Space Tail) and based on a script he co-wrote with The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature duo Cal Brunker and Bob Barlen. The film was initially set to be released by The Nut Job 1 & 2 distributor Open Road Films prior to its bankruptcy filing a year ago, which explains why it looks and feels so similar to those animated romps. Neither of those movies were particularly sophisticated when it came to their animation or storytelling, though, and the Arctic Dogs trailer doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence, either. Renner aside, the movie's voice cast is similarly filled with name actors who simply aren't as heavily in demand these days (Cleese, Alec Baldwin, Angelica Huston) or, in James Franco's case, have been laying low since sexual misconduct allegations were raised against them.
Still, as far as its message and humor goes, Arctic Dogs seems like pretty harmless kids entertainment so far. It will also hit theaters in the U.S. a few weeks after the animated Addams Family, but three weeks before Frozen II, which gives it a better chance at attracting families who're looking for a film to pass the time in-between those bigger animated releases. Were it any other year, Arctic Dogs would still be an odd way for Renner to wrap things up. In 2019, though, it feels oddly appropriate.
Arctic Dogs opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, November 1.
Source: IMDb