Renner May be the Future of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ Franchise

It was widely speculated Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol would be the final film featuring Tom Cruise in the lead role as Ethan Hunt and a new actor would be groomed to takeover the franchise after the film hit theaters in 2011. When Jeremy Renner was announced as part of Hunt’s MI team for the fourth film it was assumed he was being looked at as the man Paramount intended to bank on and now that’s been confirmed.

Speaking with MTV Renner refrains from sticking his foot in his mouth, but does confirm the idea is for him to takeover the franchise should Cruise no longer continue to be the focal point. “It’s a franchise to potentially take over,” he said. “I can’t predict the future and what they want, but that’s certainly the idea.”

However, his role at this point is simply known as an operative opposite Cruise and he isn’t offering up any additional details.” I can’t really go into the details of the script, because that’s still evolving,” he told MTV. “It’s Tom’s baby. He’s the engine behind the thing. What happens after that, we’ll see.”

Production is underway and the film is set for a December 16, 2011 release. For more on the film click here.