Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson film roles

Jennifer Hudson will star alongside Queen Latifah in the movie adaptation of hit novel 'The Secret Life of Bees'.

Jennifer will play the close friend of a troubled 14-year-old girl who escapes her abusive father and is taken in by three bee-keeping sisters. Dakota Fanning is in talks to play the lead role, while Queen Latifah and Sophie Okonedo are set to star as two of the sisters.

Alicia Keys is being considered to play the third sister in the movie, which is based on Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling 2003 novel.

Filming is due to start in North Carolina next month, with a release date scheduled for later in 2008.

This will be Jennifer's fourth movie since being voted off US TV talent show 'American Idol' in 2004.

The 26-year-old star's debut film role as Effie White alongside Beyoncé Knowles and Eddie Murphy in the hit 2006 musical 'Dreamgirls' earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Next year, she will appear as Kathy Hammett in 'Winged Creatures' with Dakota Fanning and Forest Whitaker, and also star as sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw's assistant in the much-anticipated 'Sex and the City: The Movie'.