Meryl Streep is apparently set to play a drink and drug addict in new film August: Osage County.

The Iron Lady star and fellow Oscar-winner Julia Roberts have signed up to the Weinstein Company's big-screen adaptation of Tracy Letts' Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play, Deadline reports.

Meryl will play Violet Weston, while Julia will play her eldest daughter Barbara Fordham, who is struggling to save her marriage as her husband is cheating on her with a college student.

Violet gets through the days drowning her sorrows in drink and drugs and has a habit of revealing big family secrets.

When her husband goes missing, she goes even further off the rails and her daughters come home to support her.

John Wells will direct the film from a screenplay adaptation written by Tracy.