By Steven Zeitchik and Borys Kit
Jessica Alba is becoming a Focker.
The actress is in negotiations to join the Ben Stiller-Robert DeNiro comedy "Little Fockers." She'd play the role of an attractive pharmaceutical rep whose looks wreak havoc on male characters in the story.
Paul Weitz is directing the third installment in the Universal and Tribeca Productions franchise. Universal is banking heavily on "Fockers," one of the studio's few go-to franchises and an important one given its shaky summer. Production is set to begin in the next few months, with a 2010 release date more than likely.
The picture is expect to pick up where 2004's "Meet the Fockers" left off, with Stiller's Gaylord Focker and Teri Polo's Pamela Byrnes having a child (or children -- reports abound that they could be having twins). John Hamburg penned the latest version of the script.
Even if Alba's role isn't huge -- and with so many other big actors (Stiller, DeNiro, Wilson) already set, it may not be -- the move is a shrewd bit of casting for Universal. The franchise needs to rope in young men, and with the movie's promise of babies and family -- not always said demo's main interest -- it could use a Maxim-esque presence.
The WME-repped Alba, incidentally, is set to star in the Robert
Rodriguez thriller "Machete" for Sony as well as Garry Marshall's
romantic comedy "Valentine's Day" for New Line. Both are also movies that could -- and need to -- bring in the boys. That's what she does. The focker.
