Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg has signed up to star in and executive produce the indie holiday drama The Christmas Pearl, which is an adaptation of Dorothea Benton Frank novel.

Felix Alcala is attached to direct, from a script penned by Anne Rapp, which tells the story of a tension-filled Christmas gathering of a South Carolina family, and the 93-year-old matriarch’s grandmother’s maid named Pearl, who comes back to the family as a ghost, after the family’s usual maid is called away. 
Here’s the official synopsis for the novel:

Theodora is the matriarch of a family that has grown into a bunch of truculent knuckleheads. While she’s finally gotten them all together in South Carolina to celebrate, this Christmas looks nothing like the extravagant, homey holidays of her childhood. What happened to the days when Christmas meant tables groaning with home-cooked goodies, over-the-top decorations, and long chats in front of the fire with Pearl, her grandmother’s beloved housekeeper and closest confidante? Luckily for Theodora, a special someone who heard her plea for help arrives, with pockets full of enough Gullah magic and common sense to make Theodora’s Christmas the love-filled miracle it’s meant to be.

The film will be produced by Jeff Kranzdorf, David Belafonte and Julius R. Nasso and exec produced by Goldberg, her producing partner Tom Leonardis and Jeff Sackman. 
Production is set to begin in June in New York City and South Carolina.
Up next for Goldberg is the Lifetime Original Movie, A Day Late and a Dollar Short, which the network has set an official premiere date for Saturday, April 19, at 8pm ET/PT.
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