Shirley MacLaine road-trip comedy ‘Wild Oats’ acquired by Dimension

Shirley MacLaine is going on the lam.

Dimension Films, the Weinstein Co. label that typically releases genre films such as “Scream” and “Piranha 3D”, has acquired the rights to “Wild Oats”, a new road-trip/crime comedy that stars Shirley MacLaine as a widow who decides to cash a Social Security check that’s been mistakenly made out to her in the amount of $900,000. Heading to Las Vegas with her best friend (Jacki Weaver) to make the most of her newfound fortune, the women become fugitives from the law when their secret is discovered by authorities.

The film was directed by Howard Deutch, a veteran of the big and small screens who’s helmed, among other efforts, “Pretty in Pink”, “The Great Outdoors” and “Grumpier Old Men”. (His TV credits include recent episodes of “Big Love”, “Hung” and “Ringer”.)

No release date has been set at this time.

In addition to “Oats”, it was recently announced that MacLaine would join the cast of the hit ITV/PBS series “Downton Abbey”. Her last big-screen appearance was (unfortunately) the star-studded 2010 eye-roller “Valentine’s Day”.

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