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Angelina Jolie may replace Charlize Theron in 'The Tourist'

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-12 19:01

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie interacts with an Iraqi refugee family living in Jaramana, a suburb in southern Damascus October 2, 2009. [Agencies] Latest Photos: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in Damascus

LOS ANGELES  – Charlize Theron has opted out of the thriller "The Tourist," to which she has long been attached, and sources say Angelina Jolie is in talks to replace her.

Jolie, fresh off an action-heavy part in "Salt," would take on the one-part seductress, one-part action role of the title.

The project is now also seeking a director, with Bharat Nalluri ("Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day") recently exiting. Neither producer Spyglass Entertainment, nor Nalluri, nor reps for the actresses could immediately be reached for comment.

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Production is tentatively set to begin in early 2010.

A remake of the French thriller "Anthony Zimmer" from 2005, "Tourist" centers on an American tourist who goes undercover on behalf of Interpol to entrap a former lover suspected of being a global criminal. It follows in the long tradition of innocents caught up in shady activities abroad, and also has contemporary echoes with "Taken" this past year.

It's not the first time there's been movement on "Tourist." Tom Cruise had been loosely attached at an earlier point for the lead male role, but Sam Worthington will now play the part as he rides his "Terminator: Salvation" and "Avatar" hot streak.