According to the Hollywood Reporter Latifah and Hudson have officially signed on to the Fox Searchlight project, while the studio has also confirmed they are in final negotiations to commit Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds) to the film.

Tristan Wilds, one of the young stars from HBO's hit series, "The Wire," will also appear in the flick, in one of the few male roles in the female coming-of-age story.

Set in the 1960's American South, The Secret Life of Bees will star Fanning as teenager Lily Owens who runs away from her abusive home accompanied by her friend Rosaleen (played by Hudson). While in search of clues about Lily's late mother, the pair are sheltered in the South Carolina home of three beekeeping sisters (Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, Keys).

Love & Basketball director Gina Prince-Bythewood will direct Bees from her script, which was completed prior to the WGA strike, allowing the project to go into production this January in North Carolina.

For Keys, the role arrives on the heels of the tremendous success of her most recent album, As I Am, which has spent five weeks at the top of Billboard's charts and is currently approaching multi-platinum status - surpassing Kanye West's Graduation sales after only 5 weeks, with 1,876,200 records sold thus far.

Keys part in Bees follows previous roles in Smokin' Aces and The Nanny Diaries.

The Secret Life of Bees is expected to be released in 2008 via Fox Searchlight Films.