Jeremy Renner is set to play Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb in Michael Cuesta’s sure-to-be-controversial “Kill The Messenger”.

“The Avengers” star plays a journalist who committed suicide after being denounced for exposing the CIA’s controversial involvement in helping Nicaragua’s Contra rebels import cocaine into California in the 1980s. The Hollywood Reporter says the CAA-financed movie is being written by Peter Landesman and is being produced by, among others, Renner.

In a series of 1996 articles for the San Jose Mercury News, Webb detailed how the CIA had effectively allowed the Contras to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. and use the proceeds to fund their war against the Nicaraguan government in the 1980s. The Mercury News ultimately backed down from the story, ending Webb’s career. Webb was found dead in 2004.

The film was initially with Universal, but is now looking to go out as an independent movie.