Jennifer Lopez has signed a deal to make a movie version of "Carmen" based on a script by the co-author of "Moulin Rouge," the latest in a series of films to use the famous opera as source material.

J. Lo will produce and star in the Universal Pictures film, which modernizes 19th century French composer George Bizet's tale of Spanish soldier Don José, who falls for Carmen, a gypsy temptress.

Craig Pearce, who co-wrote last year's lavish "Moulin Rouge" with director Baz Luhrmann, will write the script. According to a spokesperson for Lopez, Pearce has been doing research in Miami, Havana and Madrid.

"Carmen" was last retold by MTV in 2001's "Carmen: A Hip-Hopera," a made-for-television movie starring another pop diva, Destiny's Child's Beyoncé Knowles, in the title role. The cast also boasted a host of hip-hop and R&B notables, including Wyclef Jean, Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat and Lil' Bow Wow.

Though it will be some time before audiences can see J. Lo as "Carmen," there'll be no shortage of big-screen Jen in the coming weeks. "Enough," a thriller dealing with a woman's violent struggle against a stalking, domestic abuser, opens next week, and Lopez is currently in New York filming "Uptown Girl" with director Wayne Wang.