You know, with Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep already starring in this thing, the filmmakers could populate the rest of "August: Osage County" with circus clowns, and not only would the two leads still deliver strong performances, and inevitable Oscar nominations would follow. It looks like the folks behind the film plan to surround their leads with some strong talent, and two more reliable names are coming on board.
Abigail Breslin (who you might not recognize now from "Little Miss Sunshine") and Juliette Lewis have joined the picture. Based on the Pulitizer prize winning play by "Bug" and "Killer Joe" writer Tracy Letts, it's not as extreme as those stories, but it's no less potent. The tale follows the women of the Weston family whose lives have splintered in many directions until their alcoholic father's disappearance brings them back to their childhood home and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
Streep and Roberts respectively play the pill-popping matriarch Violet and her eldest daughter Barbara, and while Andrea Riseborough was originally slotted to play Violet's youngest daughter, Karen, Lewis now takes on that part. Meanwhile, Chris Cooper will be playing Streep's brother-in-law and Breslin takes the role of the angry, pot-smoking Jean Fordham, the 14 year-old daughter of Barbara.
All told, this is shaping up pretty nicely. John Wells ("The Company Men") is directing, and production kicks off in August. [Deadline]
