Denise Richards is to star in the family comedy 'The Junkyard Dogs'.

The 50-year-old actress has boarded the cast of the movie, which is being directed by Jacob Cooney.

The film has been written by Jacob and Jamie Sykes and follows a dog named Houdini who is a masterful escape artist. The pooch must team up with his canine pals to prevent their block from being robbed by a pair of bumbling thieves.

Denise will play the part of Monica Sullivan, a single mother of two who discovers, while her focus is on her impending wedding, that both her children and her dog are formulating a plan to stop the thieves before their neighbourhood falls under siege.

Verdi Productions are financing the film with Chad A. Verdi, Chelsea Vale, David Gere, Chad A. Verdi Jr. and Paul Luba are producing. The picture is slated for release in mid-2022.

Denise's previous movie credits include the Bond girl Christmas Jones in 'The World Is Not Enough' as well as 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' and 'Love Actually'.

The star was married to Charlie Sheen between 2002 and 2006 but previously explained how the acrimonious split damaged her career.

Denise said: "I obviously went through a very public divorce.

"It was hard for me to comprehend that my public divorce affected my work. I didn't understand it at the time because I thought, 'How come? That's my private life. It shouldn't affect my work.' But it did."

Denise also admits that she had "no real handbook" for coping with the pressures that come with fame.

She said: "It's not something you can really prepare someone for.

"When I would do interviews I was very private, which I'm sure people now would find hard to believe because I've done reality shows and I'm on Instagram and stuff.

"When I started out, they wanted to imagine the actor in that role. And we would do our best to keep it and keep our private life private. It was a hard thing to navigate and I've made a lot of mistakes."