The Hurt Locker star and Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner will star in Mission: Impossible 4, playing an operative alongside Tom Cruise. The film is current set with Brad Bird (The Incredibles) directed and Cruise and J.J. Abrams producing.
According to Deadline, there has been difficulty finding an actor who could carry the series further than a fourth film if Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt is no longer the focus. Other actors considered were Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Tom Hardy (Bronson), but they were unavailable. Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) and Kevin Zegers (Transamerica) were going to test for the role, but such tests have been cancelled since the casting of Renner.
Production chief Adam Goodman said that Renner “has a Daniel Craig quality.” Not entirely sure what he means by that statement, but in any case, Renner is a terrific actor who could very easily hold his own against Cruise and perhaps perform better than Cruise.
Renner is riding high off his Oscar-nominted role in last year’s Best Picture winner. He can be seen in Ben Affleck’s buzzed-about flick The Town and is set to play Hawkeye in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Avengers film. “MI: 4” is schedule to shoot in Dubai, Prague, the United States and Vancouver.
