Aniston to play jailbird singer in film

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. actress Jennifer Aniston has signed up to star in "Goree Girls," a film about a jailhouse female country music band, Variety.com reported.

The 1940s-set movie is based on a true story about eight women who formed a band behind bars, became popular and were eventually pardoned for their crimes. The film will mark the feature directorial debut of Michael Sucsy, who previously worked on the celebrated HBO telepicture "Grey Gardens."

"If you connect the dots between these projects, I think they are both survivor stories, about people whose human spirit doesn't give up, and it's musically driven, the way 'Grey Gardens' was," Sucsy told Daily Variety. "There is something about music that invigorates the spirit to keep going, even when you don't have freedom."

Sucsy is set to begin shooting the movie in January, the entertainment industry trade newspaper said.