Brad Bird is best known for his work on animated feature films. He wrote and directed The Iron Giant, as well as both The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Pixar. Back in March of 2008, it was reported that Bird would make his live-action debut with 1906, a movie about a son trying to figure out who killed his father around the time that the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906 struck.

While Bird is still working on 1906, it now looks like it will not be his first live-action title; after months of rumors and reports that the director was one of the names being pursued to direct Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible IV, Cruise himself has confirmed himself that Bird is indeed the man for the job.

It looks like it came down to Bird and Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright for the gig, but with Wright currently working on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, that situation didn’t work out. Wright-constant Simon Pegg of course starred in Mission: Impossible III, allowing Cruise and producer J.J. Abrams to meet Edgar.

Here’s what Cruise, in a chat with Empire Magazine, had to say about Wright and the confirmation of Brad Bird:

As it falls into place, it looks like M:I IV will be fast-tracked for a 2011 release, and Bird’s 1906 will release some time in 2012.