Jeremy Renner is apparently keen to play WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a new film.

The Hurt Locker star is rumoured to have shown an interest in taking the lead role in the DreamWorks adaptation, although nothing has officially been confirmed, reported Deadline.

Julian Assange's story is ripe for a big screen treatment

The Twilight Saga's Breaking Dawn director Bill Condon is considering taking control of the project, which is based on two books - David Leigh and Luke Harding's WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War On Secrecy and Daniel Domscheit-Berg's Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange At The World's Most Dangerous Website.

It would be a change of direction for Renner, who tends to take more action-geared roles such as Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Avengers Assemble and forthcoming film The Bourne Legacy.

Jeremy Renner is more often seen in high-octane roles, here in Mission Impossible guise

There are a number of other WikiLeaks projects around, including a HBO and BBC movie based on a New Yorker article, one from The Hurt Locker writer Mark Boal inspired by a New York Times piece, another film based on a biography and a documentary by Alex Gibney.

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Renner, who next stars alongside Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton in The Bourne Legacy, is preparing to start filming David O Russell's as-yet-untitled film, while Condon is busy completing post-production on the final instalment in the Twilight franchise.

Watch Jeremy Renner below as we're more used to seeing him, in the trailer for The Bourne Legacy...