Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts to Star as Mother-Daughter in ‘August: Osage County’

The Weinstein Co finally seems ready to move ahead on its long-planned adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, August: Osage County.

The company announced Wednesday that it has attached Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep to the project, which will be directed by John Wells (Company Men). TWC says it is eying a fall production start.

Written by Tracy Letts, the play follows the women of a family whose lives have splintered in many directions until a crisis bring them back to their childhood home and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

Streep will play the pill-popping matriarch, while Roberts will portray her daughter.

News of the pairing first surfaced in 2010 but deals and schedules took time to figure out. Streep also is in the middle of the best actress Oscar race for the Weinsteins’ The Iron Lady, and the announcement allows TWC to put out a nice quote about her from Roberts while the voting is still open: “After seeing Meryl Streep’s mesmerizing portrayal as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, it has me even more excited and proud to co-star with her.”

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