Season Five runner-up will play a self-obsessed young woman

Can McPheever spread from TV to the big screen?

Katharine McPhee will make her feature film debut in the indie romantic comedy "The Last Caller."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "The Last Caller" is budgeted between $5-and-$8 million with a production start this fall in and around New York.

Michael Albanese wrote the project, which focuses on a self-obsessed woman (McPhee) looking for "love, hope and meaning" in the big city. McPhee's role won't involve any singing, she tells the trade.

Hilary Shor ("Children of Men") and Nicholas Cokas will produce for Hit and Run Prods. and Zenith Film Group respectively.

McPhee entered the fifth season of "American Idol" with an extensive theater background in and around Los Angeles. She was a runner-up to Taylor Hicks for the season, though neither singer has set sales records with their debuts. Her self-titled album premiered at No. 2 on the Billboard chart.

The fifth "Idol" season may go down as the year of the aspiring thespian. In addition to the filmward-bound McPhee, other "Idol" acting wannabes from that installment include Lisa Tucker, who had a co-starring role in a FOX pilot this past development season, and Kevin Covais, cast in the indie comedy "College."