Whoopi Goldberg will be the executive producer and star in the film adaptation of Terry McMillian's A Day Late and a Dollar Short, The Wrap reported Friday.

Goldberg will play the main character of Viola Price who tries to reunite her estranged family after she learns asthma may kill her. Production is to begin this summer and Lifetime will air the movie in 2014. Rob Sharenow, Lifetime's executive vice president and general manager, released a statement to herald the news.

"Terry McMillan is one of America's most beloved writers and 'A Day Late and a Dollar Short' combines her signature emotional storytelling with the complex characters viewers identify with and love,"  Sharenow said.

Sharenow also praised The View co-host for being a part of the project.  He expected Goldberg to bring her considerable talents to help turn the book into one worthy of viewers. Goldberg previously worked with the cable network geared towards women. She was executive producer of the network's medical drama series Strong Medicine from 2000 to 2006. She was also one of the driving forces behind the as its 2001 original movie, What Makes a Family.

"We are thrilled to be working again with Whoopi Goldberg, who will be emptying her enormous talents both in front of and behind the camera," he said.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short will reunite Goldberg and McMillian again. In 1998, Goldberg had a role in the 1998 theatrical film How Stella Got Her Groove Back which was also adapted from a book.  The movie starred Angela Bassett that grossed nearly $40 million at the box office.

Tags: whoopi goldberg Terry McMillian