Jennifer Lopez will be playing a cougar in Jason Blum's upcoming micro-budget thriller, The Boy Next Door.

This will be the first movie Blum (Paranormal Activity, The Purge) produces as part of his Universal deal. Rob Cohen (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) is in talks to direct the film. The 44-year-old will be play the role of a newly separated mother who begins an affair with a teenage neighbor, who is also a friend of her son. Things go awry when she tries to break it off. The last film Lopez starred in was Parker, with Jason Statham.

Shooting for the film is expected to begin in fall as Lopez has to see through her commitment as a judge on American Idol, which will hit television screens in January next year. 

Blum is known for working with a shoe-string budget, The Purge and the Paranormal Activity franchise are testament to the fact. He will be producing The Boy Next Door between $3 million and $4 million, according to an inside source. The producer has other projects -- Paranormal Activity 5 and Stretch -- lined-up for release next year. But right now, Blum is gearing up to the release of his latest thriller, Insidious: Chapter 2, which will release in theaters on Sept. 13.

Blum will produce the film with John Jacobs (Smart Entertainment), Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas (from Lopez's production house Nuyorican Productions), and Benny Medina (The Medina Company). Zac Unterman is serving as an executive producer.

Watch a trailer for Blum's upcoming release, Insidious: Chapter 2:

Tags: Jennifer Lopez the boy next door