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Zoe Saldana Targeting Lead Role in Assassin Film Columbiana

by Ethan Anderton
May 17, 2010

After having a sensational career breakthrough last year starring in two of 2009's biggest flicks, Star Trek and Avatar, Zoe Saldana is becoming quite the household name and she's even had two flicks released in 2010 already (The Losers and the Death at a Funeral remake). Now aside from upcoming sequels for Avatar and Star Trek, the actress has another role in sights as Heat Vision reports she has entered into negotiations to star in Columbiana, a Luc Besson produced assassin flick which is supposed to start shooting at the end of the summer with Transporter 3 director Olivier Megaton (yes, that's his real last name) at the helm.

Written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen (who also wrote Transporter 3, Taken and many more French action films) the story is set in Latin America and follows a young 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 that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target: the mobster responsible for her parents' death. Sounds a lot like a grown up version of Lucy Liu's character Oren Ishii from Kill Bill or plenty of other characters in similar revenge stories before now.

Though Saldana has proven she is truly a genuine talent on screen, I'm not so certain this is a role that I want to see her take on. We already saw her kick some asses as an assassin of sorts with The Losers (which was some nonsensical fun), but I would prefer not to see her do many more generic action movies like this. On top of that, it sounds like there's already another more intriguing female assassin project on the horizon, Joe Wright's Hanna starring Saoirse Ronan as a 14-year-old Eastern European girl raised by her father to be a cold-blooded killing machine. There's always the chance she'll end up not taking on the role since I'm sure she's being offered plenty of other projects all the time, so stay tuned for further developments. Thoughts?

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11 Comments

Hopefully she takes on some drama roles in the near future.

Dad on May 17, 2010

Should be slept with an O, Colombiana lol

blue orange ny on May 17, 2010

Would prefer to see Besson tackle the Heavily rumored Leon: The Professional sequel, "mathilda", following the grown up exploits of Natalie Portman's career making first film role in that film as a grown up assassin. Both Besson and Portman have expressed interest in making it. I hope it happens someday!

Linkfx on May 17, 2010

Its spelled Colombiana....the country is Colombia.

Vallenato on May 17, 2010

she needs to gain some weight...

Trey M on May 17, 2010

@ #4, Thanks, but apparently that's not how the title is spelled. Heat Vision references the title several times in their story and it is spelled "Columbiana" every single time. So I don't know what to tell you. Regards,

Ethan Anderton on May 17, 2010

Hi Ethan, it's a very common mistake, but i can assure you that Colombian (or Colombiano/a in spanish) is the correct demonym for Colombia.

Vallenato on May 17, 2010

Eh sounds like other revenge movies. She needs to show some acting chops, she needs to do some drama or something.

M on May 17, 2010

Please rewrite it as ColOmbiana. Its really annoying haha. Sounds good btw

Sancle on May 17, 2010

@3... I hope that film never happens, Leon: The Professional is a perfect story wrapped up very eloquently and I'm afraid if they revisit Natalie Portman's character in a sequel that they'll destroy the mystery you feel as you see her character walk away from the audience carrying the plant at the conclusion of the film. Plus, I just can't see Portman playing an assassin, she's too "girl next door" looking and has spent her career typecasting herself in dramatic roles, unless you count star wars, and even that proves how weak she looks handling a gun. Until she blows me away playing a stoner in Your Highness I'm going to say that she should stick to romantic dramas (I named my dog Sam after seeing her in Garden State so I am a fan of her work, just not as an assassin).

peloquin on May 17, 2010

Hey everyone, I know that "Colombiana" probably seems like the right spelling, and we're well aware that it is the correct spelling in reference to the country and its inhabitants, but going from the news source and seeing how everyone else hasn't taken it upon themselves to correct this potential error, we don't see any reason to change the spelling unless it becomes clear, through official channels, that it is indeed an error in spelling/reporting. Thanks for being very observant though. Normally we don't mind correcting mistakes like this, so we appreciate it. Cheers!

Ethan Anderton on May 17, 2010

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