AceShowbiz -

Jeremy Renner will move on from "The Hurt Locker" battlefield to another deadly mission. The actor has been chosen to co-star Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible IV" and he is currently in negotiations with Paramount Pictures about the stint, reports say.

According to Deadline Hollywood which first broke the news, the studio has been looking for an actor who could potentially continue the franchise should Cruise not return in the next installment. However, the depicter of Ethan Hunt is still expected to return to the next fifth film.

Before Renner is cast as Cruise's partner in "Mission: Impossible IV", the studio boss was reportedly interested in actors like Tom Hardy and Chris Pine, but they were booked. Other candidates included Kevin Zegers, Christopher Egan and Anthony Mackie.

The studio eventually drops their choice to Renner because production chief Adam Goodman is said thinking the 39-year-old actor "has a Daniel Craig quality" and the heft to carry the franchise. Details of his character, however, were not immediately available.

Renner has already signed up to take a role of Hawkeye in Joss Whedon-directed "The Avengers" which is expected to start production in early 2011. Before that, he will be seen starring opposite Ben Affleck in "The Town" which is set to come out in the U.S. on September 17.

"Mission: Impossible IV" has got Brad Bird on board to serve as director with J.J. Abrams producing alongside Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner. Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec are writing the script for the action movie, which is aimed to arrive on December 16, 2011.