LA, Sept 10: Penelope Cruz is in negotiations to star opposite Matthew McConaughey in Crusader Entertainment's big-screen adaptation of Clive Cussler's 1992 novel "Sahara" for director Breck Eisner. The project will begin production in the fall, with Paramount Pictures distributing.
"Sahara" is the first installment of the author's best-selling Dirk Pitt series, about an intrepid adventurer and explorer. The book centers on Pitt (McConaughey) searching the Sahara for a toxin that is killing marine life. Cruz will play a Latina neurologist who falls for Pitt. Cruz next stars opposite Halle Berry in the horror thriller "Gothika," directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Bureau Report