Two-time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner is attached to star in King of Heists, based on J. North Conway's book about the greatest bank robbery in American history, Deadline reports.

Renner will play George Leslie, a dashing young architect and ladies' man who led a double life, rubbing elbows with New York City's high society while orchestrating more than 80 percent of all bank heists in the United States between 1869 and 1878. The biggest was the Oct. 27, 1878, robbery of the Manhattan Savings Institution, during which nearly $3 million in cash and securities -- about $50 million by today's standards -- was stolen.

Black Bear Pictures, which optioned the 2009 book, plans to finance development and production. Renner will produce the film with Don Handfield, his partner in The Combine production company, and Black Bear's Teddy Schwarzman.

Renner, who earned Academy Award nominations for his roles in the 2009 war film The Hurt Locker and the 2010 heist thriller The Town, plays Hawkeye in The Avengers. He'll next be seen in Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, which opens Dec. 21.