Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep Are Attached to AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that Academy Award®-winning actresses Julia Roberts (EAT PRAY LOVE) and Meryl Streep (THE IRON LADY) are attached to AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, based on the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award®-winning play by Tracy Letts, and directed by John Wells ("Shameless", THE COMPANY MEN). The announcement was made by TWC Co-Chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein.

Said Roberts, "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."

"I'm delighted and feel very privileged to have the opportunity to direct Meryl and Julia in this magnificent piece written by Tracy Letts," said Wells. "Meryl's extraordinary body of work made her the only conceivable choice to play Violet. Coupled with Julia's effortless mastery of every role she undertakes and her fearlessness as an actress, I'm confident this first ever collaboration with Meryl and Julia will produce an exciting and moving film."

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.  Letts' play made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago's legendary Steppenwolf Theatre earlier that year.  It continued with a successful international run.

Streep has been cast as pill-popping matriarch Violet Weston, and Roberts will play her complicated adult daughter Barbara.  Streep has been nominated for the 2012 Best Actress Academy Award® for THE IRON LADY, and recently won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe Award® for her performance. 

ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein, which has released such popular franchises as SCREAM, SPY KIDS and SCARY MOVIE. Together TWC and Dimension Films have released a broad range of mainstream, genre and specialty films that have been commercial and critical successes, including Tom Hooper's THE KING'S SPEECH, winner of four 2011 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture.

Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as GRINDHOUSE; I'M NOT THERE; THE GREAT DEBATERS; VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER; THE ROAD; HALLOWEEN; THE PAT TILLMAN STORY; PIRANHA 3D; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; A SINGLE MAN; BLUE VALENTINE; THE COMPANY MEN; MIRAL; SCRE4M; SUBMARINE; DIRTY GIRL; APOLLO 18; OUR IDIOT BROTHER; I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT; SARAH'S KEY; and SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD IN 4D. Currently in release are MY WEEK WITH MARILYN; THE ARTIST; THE IRON LADY; CORIOLANUS; and W.E. Upcoming releases include UNDEFEATED; BULLY; and THE INTOUCHABLES. Recently wrapped was SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, and currently in production is DJANGO UNCHAINED.

TWC is also active in television production, with credits including the Emmy® nominated and Peabody Award winning reality series Project Runway, the VH1 reality series Mob Wives, and the critically acclaimed HBO comedy/crime series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency which also received a Peabody Award. The company is currently producing After The Runway, Project Runway All Stars and Project Accessory. The company currently has 17 series in different stages of development, including Marco Polo, a scripted historical series about the great explorer; and The Nanny Diaries, being adapted for ABC by Amy Sherman Palladino (Gilmore Girls).

SOURCE The Weinstein Company