Jolie's Patricia Cornwell movie finds scribe

LOS ANGELES  – They say the pen can be as sharp as a scalpel.

Screenwriter Kerry Williamson is wielding hers to adapt a feature screenplay featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, star of the best-selling mystery series written by Patricia Cornwell. Fox 2000 picked up the rights to the books in April with Angelina Jolie on board to star.

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The Scarpetta movie could be the launch of another potential franchise for Jolie because there are 17 Scarpetta novels. Putnam published Cornwell's most recent, "The Scarpetta Factor," in October.

Williamson's thriller screenplay will draw from the world and characters Cornwell has created but not from any novel's specific plot.

Williamson has her adapted script "Fork in the Road" in development with "Sideways" director Alexander Payne at Fox Searchlight and "Breaking the Bank," from an L. Jon Wertheim-penned Sports Illustrated article, set up with "The Wrestler" director Darren Aronofsky.