Angelina's New Gig a Family Affair

Thu., Jul. 13, 2006 8:25 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

Guess we know who's boss in this relationship. Er, at least on set.

Angelina Jolie is getting back into the swing of being a working mom--emphasis on working--signing on to star in her second movie a week, this time with baby daddy Brad Pitt producing the flick.

The Oscar-winning actress is set to star in A Mighty Heart. Pitt's Plan B Productions is a coproducer of the drama, based on Mariane Pearl's bestselling nonfiction book, A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Daniel Pearl.

Pearl was a Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and later killed in Pakistan in 2002 while investigating al Qaeda's connection to the Sept. 11 attacks. Jolie will play Pearl's widow, Mariane, in the film.

"The film will focus on the deep collaboration between people around the world in search of Daniel in 2002," Pitt told People. "We hope the film can increase an understanding between people of all faiths and portray the story and the people involved as honestly as possible without anger or judgment."

"I am delighted that Angelina Jolie will be playing my role in the adaptation of my book," Pearl said. "I deeply admire her work and what she is committed to do."

John Lesher, president of Paramount Vantage, the studio producing the film, made the casting announcement.

"I am tremendously proud to join [director] Michael, Angelina, Brad, along with Mariane in sharing this courageous story with all those who have been touched by it," he said.

The project was first acquired in 2003 by Pitt and then wife Jennifer Aniston, who were the founding partners, along with current Paramount CEO Brad Grey, of Plan B. The film was in the early stages of development when the golden duo split, no script had been finished and there was no word on casting.

How times have changed.

Aniston relinquished her stake in Plan B to Pitt in 2005, as did Gray when he assumed control of Paramount, leaving Pitt in sole control of the company. While Aniston remains involved in several projects set up prior to their split, among them the upcoming dramedy Running with Scissors and the Martin Scorcese drama The Departed, she has no part in the Pearl biopic.

The film, shooting this fall, marks the second professional pairing for Pitt and Jolie, who infamously costarred in last summer's blockbuster, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Looks like Shiloh is going to be spending some quality time with the nanny in the coming weeks: as mentioned before, A Mighty Heart is the second big-screen gig Jolie has accepted in the past week.

On Monday, she inked a deal to lend her voice to the animated DreamWorks flick Kung Fu Panda. She'll play a martial-arts mastering tiger who's enlisted to train an unmotivated panda to defend his ancient Chinese town.