Share this
This Friday, audiences will be introduced to Renner, a mind-bending thriller that takes artificial intelligence to an unsettlingly personal level. Starring Frankie Muniz as a brilliant but socially stunted computer genius, the film follows his journey of self-improvement through an AI life coach—one that may have more control over him than he ever imagined. Directed by Robert Rippberger, Renner delves into the dark corners of technology, human emotion, and the fragile boundary between assistance and domination.
A New Challenge for Frankie Muniz
For Muniz, Renner offered an opportunity unlike anything he’d tackled before. Balancing his career in racing with his return to the screen was no easy feat. “We started filming in May of 2023. I raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway and then left the race and went to Spring Hope, North Carolina, where we started filming like the next day or two days later,” he recalled. “This role, obviously, I wanted to make work no matter what the scheduling was. It’s just so different.”
CHECK OUT MORE ON MOVIES FROM THE NI TEAM
The unpredictability of the story itself was a major draw for Muniz. “I remember reading the script and just not being able to put it down,” he said. “Where I thought the story was going on page 45 was not where it went on page 90. That really excited me.”
The Timeliness of Renner
Director Robert Rippberger acknowledged that AI is a hot-button issue, but when they began work on Renner, it wasn’t yet dominating headlines. “When we started, it was 2023, and the script was even a year before that,” he explained. “People were just starting to talk about AI in the way they do now. So we really had to project forward into the future as much as we could.”
To get inside the mind of the main character, Rippberger even went as far as downloading an AI chatbot app that simulated a virtual girlfriend. “I wanted to see what it was like, and I found this huge world of people who were really living that life—having relationships with artificial bots,” he shared. But while the technology of Renner is futuristic, its emotional core is deeply human. “The technology will change, but there’s something primordial about the story, especially the relationship between Renner and his mother. That’s timeless.”
Muniz’s Deep Dive into the Role
Playing Renner required Muniz to tap into emotions he had never fully explored before as an actor. “I had a really tough time leaving the set and going back to where I was staying, distinguishing what was a real emotion and what was from filming,” he admitted. “It brought so much out of me that I had never really thought of.”
The emotional intensity of the role made each day on set a challenge. “Every day I had to be on my A-game,” Muniz said laughing. “There wasn’t an easy day where I was just lying on a couch. My favorite scenes to film in Malcolm in the Middle were the ones where I was asleep—this was the complete opposite.”
RELATED: Star Trek: Section 31 on Paramount+ warps the next era of Trek Films!
Rippberger credited Muniz and the rest of the cast for their dedication. “Any tiny little false moment, and you might lose the audience,” he said. “We needed performances that really went there, and that’s hard work. But ultimately, those are the performances that stay with people.”
The Shocking Twists of Renner
One of the most striking elements of Renner is its unexpected storytelling. “I remember reading the ending for the first time and going, ‘Whoa, I did not see that coming,’” Muniz said. “Even when I watched the final cut, knowing exactly what would happen, it still took me by surprise. That’s my favorite kind of movie—where what you think it is for the first 40 minutes is completely different from what it is at the end.”
With its gripping performances and thought-provoking themes, RENNER will release in limited theaters beginning Friday, February 7th, and will be available on Digital + VOD in March.
