Crime is about to pay big-time for Angelina Jolie.
After months of negotiations and an in-person meet with the author, Brad Pitt's better half is set to star in a potentially franchisable action flick based on Patricia Cornwell's best-selling crime series.
According to Variety, Jolie will play heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta in the film, which will not be a direct adaptation of a particular novel in the 16-book (and counting) series, but rather will place the character in the midst of a suspense thriller that may borrow from multiple tomes, à la Matt Damon's Bourne franchise.
In Cornwell's megahit books, the blond Scarpetta starts out as the chief medical examiner for Virginia and later relocates to various East Coast states to become a private forensic consultant. In each instance, murder can't help but follow her (and her assistants, and her love interests, and…).
Fox 2000 is developing the film, and while no writer or director has yet been selected, Jolie and the movie's producers are expected to begin meeting with prospective scribes shortly.
Cornwell's latest installment of the book series, Scarpetta, was released in December.