Angelina Jolie to Star in 'Wanted'

Angelina Jolie is set to join fellow Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy in the Universal thriller "Wanted." The film will be directed by Timur Bekmambetov, an acclaimed Russian director who will be making his English language debut.

"Wanted" is set to go into production this spring and the film will be based on the violent graphic novel also titled "Wanted" by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones.

The story of "Wanted" centers on a young man who will be played by McAvoy. McAvoy's character finds out that his father is an assassin and has been killed. He joins the assassin profession himself and is taken under the wing of The Fox, the leader of the international assassins. Fox is to be played by Jolie.

The news of Angelina Jolie joining the cast of "Wanted" comes less than a week after Jolie announced that she was taking time off from movie work to focus on her new son Pax Thien. Jolie decided to take the role after her "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life" writer Dean Georgaris rewrote the script specifically to feature Jolie.

Jolie announced that she was taking time off from movies last week while she was in Vietnam picking up her newly adopted son. She told the Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper that she would not be taking on any new movie projects for at least several months.

"I will stay at home to help Pax adjust to his new life," she said. "I have four children and caring for them is the most important thing for me at the moment."

Jolie joining "Wanted" means that she will be cutting her time at home with her children short. She will have time to spend about a month at home before shooting starts on her new film.

"Wanted" will start its production in Prague in late April before moving back to Chicago in the U.S.

Jolie also recently signed a deal to star in the next Clint Eastwood film titled "The Changeling." The film is expected to be released in the fall. The film is about a mother whose son was kidnapped and then returned to her. She later has suspicions that the boy who was returned to her is not actually her son.