Selena Gomez and Joey King Cast in 'Beezus and Ramona'

LOS ANGELES, (February 6, 2009)....Teen sensation Selena Gomez, who stars in the series "Wizards of Waverly Place," and Joey King ("The Suite Life of Zack and Cody") will star in the motion picture "BEEZUS AND RAMONA," based on the best-selling /Ramona /books (over 91 million...and counting) by Beverly Cleary.

Gomez will portray Beezus, the brilliant yet insecure older sister to King's Ramona, whose vivid imagination, boundless energy and accident-prone antics help her family face its biggest challenge.

King's casting follows Fox 2000 Pictures' nationwide casting search for Ramona, during which the production division saw hundreds of girls - with King finally nabbing the role after completing a screen test.

Elizabeth Allen ("Aquamarine") directs from a screenplay by Laurie Craig and Nick Pustay. Denise Di Novi and Alison Greenspan are producing for Fox 2000 Pictures and Walden Media. Di Novi has successfully brought to the screen several other literary properties aimed at female audiences, including "Little Women," "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and the recent "Nights in Rodanthe."

In addition to her starring role on "Wizards of Waverly Place," Selena Gomez is working on her debut album, due for release later this year. Joey King, who began her career at age four, has amassed an impressive list of film and television credits including "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Medium," "Jericho" and "Entourage."

Twentieth Century Fox releases "BEEZUS AND RAMONA" in theaters everywhere March 19, 2010.