Jessica Alba will meet the parents in 'Little Fockers'

Jessica Alba looks very concerned (or bored?) at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative.

Credit: AP Photo

Jessica Alba had a pretty awful 2008.  She was already coming off the bomb "Awake" the fall before, but ending up delivering two more duds in a row: the ludicrous thriller "The Eye" and Mike Myer's massive misfire "The Love Guru."  After taking some time off to give birth to her daughter Honor (and attend the Clinton Global Initiative last week it seems), the former "Fantastic Four" sex symbol is trying to turn things around.

2009 has found Alba has already completing a role in the star-filled ensemble romantic comedy "Valentine's Day," starring in Robert Rodriguez's indie action flick "Machete" and appearing n Michael Winterbottom's thriller "The Killer Inside Me."  Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Alba is joining the cast of "Little Fockers," the third installment of the "Meet the Parents" franchise.

Directed by Paul Weitz, who helmed the upcoming "The Vampire's Assistant: Cirque du Freak," "Fockers" will find Alba playing a pharmaceutical rep who disrupts the lives of the male characters in the story.  It's unclear if that means both Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro's adversarial father and son-in-law or just one of them in the particular. The picture will also find Stiller and Teri Polo's characters having their first child or possibly twins.  Owen Wilson and Blythe Danner will also return for the third installment in the franchise.

The trade reports production on "Fockers" is expected to begin within the next few months for a 2010 release.