Angelina Jolie to Play Dr. Kay Scarpetta

 

Angelina Jolie has signed on to portray crime novelist Patricia Cornwell’s heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta in a forthcoming movie from Twentieth Century Fox and its Fox 2000 division. This deal is a mega-marriage, with Jolie one of the most bankable female movie stars, and Cornwell one of the biggest selling female authors in the world.

Mark Gordon will produce with Media Talent Group’s Geyer Kosinski. The studio, producers and Jolie are meeting with writers and will set one shortly. Bryan Zuriff will serve as executive producer.

There are 16 Scarpetta novels, meaning a franchise is hoped for, but this film won’t be tied to a specific Cornwell mystery title, adds the trade. The opera-loving coroner Scarpetta will be the lead in a suspense thriller in the vein of The Silence of the Lambs and Seven.

Jolie is currently in New York filming the thriller Salt.