Toronto: Jennifer Lopez to Play Cougar Mom in Thriller ‘The Boy Next Door’

Rob Cohen is in talks to direct the low-budget movie, which is being produced by Jason Blum (“Paranormal Activity”)

Jennifer Lopez is set to play a seductive cougar in “The Boy Next Door,” a low-budget thriller that Jason Blum is producing through his Blumhouse banner under his first-look deal with Universal, an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap.

Rob Cohen (“xXx”) is in talks to direct from a script by Barbara Curry.

Lopez will play a single mom who has a lustful affair with a teenage neighbor who befriends her son. When she tries to end the relationship, trouble ensues.

Blumhouse and Universal, which recently scored a huge hit with the $3 million home invasion thriller “The Purge,” see a ton of upside in the new movie, which will be made for under $5 million, including Lopez’s star salary.

Blum will produce with Smart Entertainment’s John Jacobs and Lopez’s manager Benny Medina, as well as Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas of Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions banner. Zac Unterman will executive produce.

“The Boy Next Door” will start production this fall before Lopez begins taping the new season of “American Idol.”

CAA-repped Lopez recently starred opposite Jason Statham in “Parker.”

Variety first reported the news.

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