Eddie Murphy will topline the DreamWorks film "A Thousand Words" for director Brian Robbins, who also served as a producer in the actor's film "Norbit." 

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Murphy will play a man who discovers he has only a thousand words left to say before he dies.

"West Wing" veteran Allison Janney, last seen as Ellen Page's forgiving stepmom in "Juno," plays Murphy's boss, the money-grubbing head of a literary agency.       

In related news, Janney also stars opposite Maya Rudolph in the upcoming film "This Must Be the Place," a tentatively titled relationship comedy from "American Beauty" director Sam Mendes. Janney's brassy, unhinged character reunites with a former employee in Phoenix, where the expectant mother/employee (Rudolph) begins a tour of the country with her husband (John Krasinski) to find the best place to raise their child.