Keri Russell has signed on to star alongside Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford in the untitled drama for CBS Films.

The film is based on a true story and will be the first film to be produced by the new company.

Russell will play Aileen Crowley, a mother who is trying to provide a normal life for her three children, two who suffer from a deadly neuromuscular disease known as Pompe while her husband (Fraser) and unconventional scientist Robert Stonehill (Ford) try to find a cure before it’s too late.

Tom Vaughn will direct and Nelson Jacobs (The Water Horse) wrote the screen play. 

Russell most recently appeared in Disney’s Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler and has received overwhelmingly positive feedback for her role in the Waitress. However, she is best known for her role as the title character on the WB network’s TV drama, Felicity, which aired from 1998 through 2002.

Filming is expected to begin on April 6, 2009.

—Jessica Delli Santi