EXCLUSIVE: Laura Dern and Will Ferrell will star in Fruitcake, a film that Max Winkler will direct from a script by Trey Selman. Eclipse Pictures is set to finance.

Fruitcake is the true story of Sandy and Kay Jenkins, a seemingly upstanding middle-class couple, who achieved the American dream after Sandy used his job as an accountant to embezzle $17 million from Collin Street Bakery, the world-famous fruitcake company based in Corsicana, Texas. Ferrell will play Sandy and Dern will play Kay.

Jordan Horowitz, Dern and her producing partner Jayme Lemons will produce along with Adam Kolbrenner and Red Sanders. Eclipse’s Benedict Carver and Daniel Diamond will executive produce, together with Collin Street president and CEO Bob McNutt.

“Trey’s writing is original and dynamic and unlike any I’ve read before,” said Winkler, “and I’m deeply excited to help tell this story along with two of my favorite actors working today.”

Eclipse will finance and represent the film’s worldwide distribution rights, with CAA and UTA jointly representing U.S. rights.

The Collin Street Bakery is family owned and operated and has been in business since 1896. Its famous fruitcake, which is based on an original German recipe, is world renowned.

Selman, who was born and raised in Texas, wrote the script on spec and it subsequently ended up on The Black List, where it caught the attention of Winkler and Dern.

Winkler, who last directed Flower, is currently in post on the drama Jungleland, starring Charlie Hunnam, Jessica Barden and Jack O’Connell. Dern next appears in Greta Gerwig’s remake of Little Women for Columbia Pictures, while Ferrell is about to start shooting Eurovision for director David Dobkin and Netflix.

Dern is repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment, Ferrell by UTA, Mosaic and attorney Deborah Klein; Winkler by CAA, Management 360 and attorney Karl Austen. Selman is repped by Lit Entertainment Group and attorney attorney Stephen Clark. Attorneys Peter Grossman and Richard Rapkowski negotiated for Eclipse.