Michael Vartan has joined Zoe Saldana in Columbiana, an action movie produced and co-written by Luc Besson and directed by Transporter 3 director Olivier Megaton, according to Heat Vision.

The film centers on a woman (Zoe Saldana) who as a child witnessed her parents' murder in Bogota. She grows up to become a hitwoman by day but in her personal time engages in vigilante murders to lead her to her ultimate target: the mobster responsible for her parents' deaths.

Michael Vartan will play Zoe Saldana's boyfriend, an artist with no idea what she does for a living who is her only link to normalcy.

Luc Besson wrote the script with Robert Mark Kamen.

Production will begin in late summer in Chicago, New Orleans and Mexico City. The action thriller is set to be released Sept. 2, 2011.