Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson And Alicia Keys To Star In New Movie

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Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson have signed on to star in Fox Searchlight's "The Secret Life of Bees," the big-screen adaptation of the Sue Monk Kidd best-seller.

Searchlight also confirmed that it is in final negotiations with Dakota Fanning and Alicia Keys to also star in the film, a female-oriented coming-of-age tale. Tristan Wilds will play one of the film's male roles.

Gina Prince-Bythewood ("Love & Basketball") -- who is attached to direct the adaptation of another best-seller, "I Know This Much Is True," for Fox 2000 -- will direct "Bees" from her own script.

"Bees," a drama set in the Southern U.S. in the 1960s, centers on teenager Lily Owens (Fanning) and her friend Rosaleen (Hudson), who flee their hometown to escape their harsh upbringing and seek to uncover the mysteries of Lily's late mother. Along the way, they encounter three beekeeping sisters (Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, Keys) who take the pair in to their South Carolina home.

The movie's script was completed before the writers strike, allowing the project to go into production in January in North Carolina. Searchlight is planning on a 2008 release.

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