Zoe Saldana In Chats For “Columbiana” Assassin Role

Avatar star Zoe Saldana is in early discussions for the lead role in Columbiana — a upcoming Luc Besson-produced action drama set in Latin America — according to a scoop from The Hollywood Reporter.

The Dominican-American/Puerto Rican actress — whose credits include Star Trek, The Losers, and Death at a Funeral — would play a young Colombian woman who, after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders she hopes will lead her to the mobster responsible for murdering her parents.

The project — directed by Transporter 3’s Olivier Megaton — is expected to begin production this summer..