Deadline reports that Renner won’t replace, but rather star alongside, Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible 4,” which will be directed by Brad Bird (“Ratatouille,” “The Incredibles”) and produced by Cruise and the prolific J.J. Abrams.

“Mission” marks the second major leading role for the 39-year-old star who was recently cast as the superhero Hawkeye in Marvel Studios’ giant ensemble event picture, “The Avengers” (2012), to be directed by Joss Whedon.

Renner’s casting fills the last prominent piece in Paramount’s development of the film, and gives the studio a reliable and respected option to continue the franchise in the future, should Cruise bequeath his primary protagonist status in future films (though Cruise is expected to be back at least for no. 5).

Other top contenders for the role were rising star, Tom Hardy (“Bronson”) and “Star Trek’s” Chris Pine.  Kevin Zegers, Christopher Egan and Anthony Mackie (Renner’s “Hurt Locker” co-star) were also considered.

The script was penned by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec.

Filming will take place in the U.S., Vancouver, Prague and Dubai.

Best Picture

“Avatar”

“The Hurt Locker”

“The Blind Side”

“District 9″

“An Education”

“Inglourious Basterds”

“Precious”

“Up”

“A Serious Man”

“Up in the Air”

Actor in a Leading Role

Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”

George Clooney, “Up in the Air”

Colin Firth, “A Single Man”

Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”

Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon, “Invictus”

Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”

Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”

Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”

Actress in a Leading Role

Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”

Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”

Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”

Carey Mulligan, “An Education”

Mery Streep, “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Penélope Cruz, “Nine”

Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”

Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”

Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”

Mo’Nique, “Precious”

Animated Feature

“Coraline”

“Fantastic Mr. Fox”

“Up”

“The Secret of Kells”

“The Princess and the Frog”

Directing

James Cameron, “Avatar”

Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”

Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Lee Daniels, “Precious”

Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”

Foreign Language Film

“Ajami”

“El Secreto de Sus Ojos”

“The Milk of Sorrow”

“The White Ribbon”

“Un Prophète”

Original Screenplay

“A Serious Man”

“The Hurt Locker”

“Up”

“The Messenger”

“Inglourious Basterds”

Documentary Feature

“Burma VJ”

“Food, Inc.”

“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”

“Which Way is Home”

“The Cove”

“Town” is a romantic crime thriller from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, adapted from Chuck Hogan’s novel “Prince of Thieves,” that Ben Affleck will direct.

The narrative centers on the relationship between a bank manager (Hall), the career criminal (Affleck) who robs her, and the dedicated FBI agent (Hamm) trying to track down the crook

If cast, Renner will play a member of Affleck’s crime gang.

Graham King will produce the script developed by Affleck, Hogan and Peter Craig.

Shooting is scheduled to begin in September in Boston.

“The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug.”  The words of embedded war correspondent, Chris Hedges, linger on the screen in the opening frames of Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” hinting that what is to follow is anything but your typical war film.

The opening sequence, which takes place in 2004 Baghdad, sets the cold-as-steel tone with a wickedly intense bomb-defusing scene that not only sees a dramatic and unexpected departure from convention, but also familiarizes the audience with the proper delicate and methodical manner in which these types of situations must be handled.  Similarly calculated and gripping scenes populate the rest of the film.

As soon as Bigelow (“Point Break,” “Strange Days,” “K-19: The Widowmaker”) mercilessly establishes that safety is a luxury not afforded to even the most cautious, she introduces the film’s hero, Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner), a brash, young new arrival to his Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit (bomb squad) in Iraq.  He and his comrades carefully and routinely dismantle devices intended to kill them.  Already battle hardened with stints in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Iraq, James has become so familiar with the procedures and protocols in place to prevent his death (earnestly illustrated at the beginning of the film) that he feels comfortable ignoring them.

Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), his next in command, plays by the book and prefers the common-sense approach, often rightly becoming  infuriated when James’ employs his rogue methods.  But William James is a different breed.  He is a highly functional and talented zombie.  An unsung casualty of the horrors of war.  And what’s more, he has become addicted to the very horrors responsible for the decay of his soul.

Renner, known best as the star of the short-lived TV show, “The Unusuals,” delivers a fully characterized, powerhouse performance that seems likely to catapult him onto the A-list.  Mackie (“We Are Marshall”) is a steady and reliable foil to Renner’s unpredicatable maverick.

Despite it’s successes, “Locker” falls just short of masterpiece territory.  Barely.  A cliched, fully-clothed, “rape shower” scene, a semi-forced mourning of a dead Iraqi boy, and an out of place AWOL sequence are only minor flaws in an otherwise sophisticated and compelling tale.

“The Hurt Locker” is not only a taught, evenly paced, well-acted, spellbinding thriller, but is the first Iraq War film to deliver a penetrating, gripping study of heroism without falling into the trappings of either nationalism or cynicism and condescension.  This gem is Bigelow’s best effort to date, and the best war film since Terry Malick’s gorgeous and contemplative 1998 masterpiece, “The Thin Red Line.”

Score: (5/5)