Timothy Olyphant, Jeremy Renner cast in new series, film. What’s coming up for Modesto actors

Modesto’s two most famous current actors have new projects in the works.

Timothy Olyphant has joined the cast of the upcoming animated series “Terminator Zero,” providing the voice for the title character.

Jeremy Renner has been cast in the latest “Knives Out” film.

Both award-nominated actors graduated from Beyer High School.

Olyphant’s “Terminator” series is expected to debut Aug. 29 on Netflix, according to a story on Deadline.com.

The show “is set in two time periods,” according to the story. “In 2022, a future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines. In 1997, the AI known as Skynet gained self-awareness and began its war against humanity.”

A soldier is sent back to 1997 to protect a scientist working on an AI system to compete with Skynet’s attack on humanity, according to the Deadline story. The scientist “is hunted by an unrelenting assassin ...”

Olyphant is a Emmy-nominated actor, including for his role in the FX series “Justified.”

He reprised his role as Raylan Givens from the original series last year in “Justified: City Primeval.” Given the cliffhanger ending to the latter, it remains possible that FX may continue the “Justified” story, but no decision has been announced.

Renner back in film

“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” marks the first film role for Renner since his near-fatal accident on New Year’s Day 2023.

The Academy Award-nominated actor will join Daniel Craig in the Netflix film. Plot details are unknown, according to a Deadline.com story, but production is set to start next month, with a release sometime in 2025.

The original “Knives Out” was a 2019 feature film. Netflix produced its sequel, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” and began streaming it in 2022.

Renner had a sort of cameo in “Glass Onion,” according to a story on comicbook.com: “...fans may recall a hot sauce brand with Jeremy Renner’s face on it playing a key role in the movie.”

Renner will not play himself in the new film, director Rian Johnson has said. “I was very relieved he thought the hot sauce thing was funny! He’s playing a proper part in this one, we’ll keep the sauce off-screen,” Johnson said in a Netflix Tudum story.

Renner currently can be seen in his starring role on the Paramount+ series “Mayor of Kingstown.”