The Secret Life of Bees, adapted and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood from the best-selling book by Sue Monk Kidd, weaves racism and the civil rights movement around the story of Lily (Dakota Fanning), a young white girl taken in by three African-American sisters when she runs away from her controlling, emotionless father. It's a role that's in some ways reminiscent of the character Fanning played in Hounddog, a film that was critically panned and rather controversial for having a scene in which Fanning's character was raped.

This time around, there's no such awkward controversy; The Secret Life of Bees is a sweet, mostly charming coming-of-age tale that, while it doesn't particularly break any new ground with regards to the filmmaking, does an able enough job of adapting a bestselling book of the "women's bookclub" variety for the screen. Here's the basic story: Lily is haunted by the death of her mother; now, on the eve of her fourteenth birthday, she's had enough of her father, T-Ray (Paul Bettany), and starts to fight back against him.

When their maid, Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson), is accosted by a pack of angry white men on the way to registering to vote -- and ends up arrested herself for her trouble -- Lily decides that it's time for both her and Rosaleen to escape. She has a vague idea about where to go -- Tiburon, South Carolina -- based only on the name of a town written on one of the few possessions she has of her mother's, and a label from a honey jar.

At the end of July, we shared the poster premiere of The Secret Life of Bees. Now you can check out the trailer for the film above, courtesy of Trailer Addict.

This is the Dakota Fanning-starring film about a young girl haunted by the memory of her late mother. With her caregiver Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson), she runs off to a South Carolina town and is taken in by the Boatwright sisters (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo), who teach her the comforts of beekeeping and honey. Unfortunately, the girl's troubled past, in the form of father Paul Bettany, finds her.

While the poster was a little sappy (or perhaps "honey" is the best word in this case) for my tastes, the trailer has a nice amount of sass mixed into the drama, as well as a great one-breath sentence uttered by Fanning. I think I just might have to see this film, which will hit screens on October 17. What about you?

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for The Secret Life of Bees (click above image to enlarge), based on Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling coming-of-age novel. And talk about an all-star cast of top-notch female talent, Bees stars Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keys and Sophee Okonedo. The film, which is set in South Carolina in 1964, follows two friends (Fanning and Latifah) who run away from home in order to solve the mystery surrounding one of their mothers. Eventually, the three Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Keys and Okonedo) take the two girls in and teach them how to care for and raise bees. The book itself has a ton of fans, and I expect the film -- especially with this cast -- to win over a slew of new ones as well.

The Secret Life of Bees buzzes into theaters on October 17.

Well, Tyler Perry has been outed as a possible roid-rager, and I'm sure it has made plenty of fans look at him just a little differently. Now, the man famous for dressing up in a housecoat has decided to take a stab at something just a little more dramatic, 'cause goodness knows, he could probably use the change. Variety reports that Jennifer Hudson is currently in talks to star in his family drama, Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys -- now I know I am not the first person to comment on this, but really, does he have to put his name in the title of every single film that he makes? Perry will direct and star along with Sanaa Lathan, Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard and Rockmond Dunbar (Prison Break). Perry also wrote the script, which is about two families who become intertwined due to relationships in love and business.

The film will mark the first time that Perry has included white actors in the major storyline of the film -- but I can't say that it is really going to matter. Let's just say that I'm enough of a cynic to pretty much assume that any Tyler Perry film isn't exactly going to rock my world. But it's not like I've never been proven wrong about this kinds of things, so you never know. Hudson is still hard at work filming the big-screen version of Sex in The City (as Carrie's assistant, or better known as the "sassy black female friend #1703") as well as The Secret Life of Bees (based on the critically acclaimed coming-of-age novel by Sue Monk Kidd). The Family that Preys is set to start shooting March 2 at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. After an Oscar and a slew of high-profile roles, is it wrong to suggest that maybe Hudson should steer clear of this particular film?

Super-not-so-shocking news today: Dakota Fanning is about to sign on to play another kid with a dark life. Variety reports that she is in negotiations, along with Alicia Keys, for the upcoming drama The Secret Life of Bees -- which has already nabbed the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, and Sophie Okonedo. Gina Prince-Bythewood, who wrote and directed Love & Basketball, adapted Sue Monk Kidd's bestselling novel, and will direct it when shooting begins in January in North Carolina. (I guess the South Carolinian book locale was too pricey to shoot in.)

Set in the 1964 south, the year the Civil Rights Act came to be, the film will focus on Lily (Fanning), a 14-year-old girl who lives with her abusive father and memories of her dead mother. It seems that her mom died when a 4-year-old Lily accidentally shot her during a fight with her husband. Meanwhile, her nanny Rosaleen (Hudson) gets into some trouble with some white men while going to register to vote and has to flee the Georgia town. Lily joins her and the pair run off to South Carolina, which somehow holds secrets about her mom's past. They are then taken in by the "eccentric" Calendar sisters (Latifah, Okonedo, and Keys), who make Black Madonna Honey. So, that's where the bees come in. If this slice of drama sounds interesting, the project has a quick turnaround -- Fox Searchlight plans to release it in 2008.