Paramount Pictures has set December 16, 2011 as the release date for Mission: Impossible IV.  No director has been announced, but when we last reported on the film, it appeared that the studio was hammering out the final details with Oscar-winner Brad Bird (The Incredibles).  There are no story details on the fourth film, but Tom Cruise will return as Agent Ethan Hunt.  J.J. Abrams, who directed the third film, will return as a producer.  Screenwriters Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec are attached to write the script, from an original idea by Cruise and Abrams.

Hit the jump for a list of the other films that Mission: Impossible IV will be competing with around its new release date.

There are three films currently slated to open in December 2011 other than Mission Impossible 4: Martin Scorsese's The Invention of Hugo Cabret on December 9th, Alvin and the Chipmunks 3D on December 16th, and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn on December 23rd.  Of these four films, Mission: Impossible IV is the only one that isn't set to be in 3D.  Of course, I wouldn't be shocked if M:I-4 was infected by the 3D plague somewhere down the line.