Shirley MacLaine plays another cantankerous old lady in the first trailer for Mark Pellington’s dramedy “The Last Word,” which Bleecker Street acquired last month.
The film, co-starring Amanda Seyfried as a young newspaper reporter assigned to the obituary desk, is due in theaters March 3, 2017, after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.
MacLaine stars as Harriet Lauler, a once successful businesswoman in tight control of every aspect of her life. As she reflects upon her accomplishments, she’s suddenly inspired to engage a young local writer, Anne Sherman (Seyfried), to pen her life story. “She puts the bitch in obituary,” Anne says of Harriet in the trailer.
When the initial result doesn’t meet Harriet’s high expectations, she sets out to reshape the way she is remembered, with Anne dragged along as an unwilling accomplice. As the journey unfolds, the two women develop a unique bond which alters not only Harriet’s legacy, but also Anne’s future.
The script is by Stuart Fink. In addition to directing, Pellington producedd along with Anne-Marie MacKay of Wondros and Kirk D’Amico of Myriad Pictures, while Aaron Magnani served as executive producer.
MacLaine, an Oscar winner in 1983 for “Terms of Endearment,” will receive the Career Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association next month. In addition to “The Last Word, her upcoming projects include “The Little Mermaid” and “Jim Button.”
Watch the trailer above.