Violet Weston (center, Meryl Streep) with her daughters, Barbara (right, Julia Roberts) and Karen (left, Julianne Nicholson) in ‘August: Osage County’

According to the LA Times, competition will be fierce between Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts at the 2014 Academy Awards. The stars are playing mother-daughter roles in the John Wells directed August: Osage County. The film has been adapted by Tracy Letts from his Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name. The film features a star-studded cast, including Sam Shepard (The Right Stuff), Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Chris Cooper (Adaptation), Misty Upham (Frozen River),  Julianne Nicholson (Boardwalk Empire), and Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek: Into Darkness).

August: Osage County, centers on a dysfunctional Oklahoma family who reunite in a search for their suddenly missing, poet-with-a-drinking-problem father, Beverly (Sam Shepard). Before his disappearance Beverly made arrangements for a care-giver (Missy Upham) to cook and take care of his wife, Violet (Meryl Streep). Violet is suffering from mouth cancer and has recently become addicted to her pain medication.

Beverly and Violet have three daughters. Ivy (Julianne Nicholson), the youngest, lives at home but is planning to run away with her cousin/boyfriend. Barbara (Julia Roberts), and Karen (Juliette Lewis – who took over the part from Andrea Riseborough) round out the family.

Meryl Streep is a seventeen-time nominee and three-time Oscar winner for (Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, and The Iron Lady). Julia Roberts has a Best Actress Oscar for her starring role in Erin Brockovich.

August: Osage County is being produced by George Clooney, Jean Doumanian, Grant Heslov, Steve Traxler, and Harvey Weinstein. It opens in theaters August 8, 2013.