Get inside – New comic-book role for Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba sure does love comic-books, or at least she loves playing comic-book roles. The geek-friendly one, who previously starred in Sin City and The Fantastic Four, has signed up to play Najah Cruz, in the big-screen adaptation of Belgian comic The Insiders.

Alba is such a big fan of this particular series that she has invested a large amount of her own money in getting the movie rights. The story follows Cruz, who is a undercover Columbian operative with exceptional combat skills and weapon prowess. The White House sends her to infiltrate a international secret cartel of businessmen and politicians, by becoming bodyguard to the organisations leaders.

It all sounds a lot like the plot of most international spy-thrillers, particularly the recent James Bond movies. So are we looking at a female Bond or something more akin to Alias. Certainly Alba is no stranger to espionage, having starred in the career-defining James Cameron TV series Dark Angel as a government project on the run. This series proved she could do action, and while the Fantastic Four movies were poor, this could well be a return to form for the lads-mag favourite.

The series itself is relatively unknown, but the Belgian’s are huge comic-book fans, having given the world Tin-Tin and the Smurfs. I had the privilege of visiting their comic-book museum in Brussels, and while it’s no Midtown Comics in New York, it is a wonderful exhibit to the art of these graphic designs.

Sin City
director, Robert Rodriguez, is set to produce the movie, with JCvD director Mabrouk El Mechri attached to direct. There’s no start date as yet, but by the sounds of it, it should be ready to start shooting soon, for a probable 2011 release. Definitely worth keeping an eye on.