"David Mamet's Anne Frank" sounds like the kind of joke production that would pop up on an episode of Entourage, along the lines of James Cameron's Aquaman. But oh dear, this production is very, very real. Mamet, who wrote Glengarry Glen Ross and recently wrote and directed the martial arts drama Redbelt, will be directing a new version of Anne Frank's story-- for Disney, no less.
Variety writes that the film will be based both on Frank's diary and the stage adaptation by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. Perhaps frighteningly, Mamet will also add some of his own spin to the story, possibly framing it as "a young girl's rite of passage." Everyone who read the book in eighth grade remembers that, in addition to insights on the Holocaust and family life, Frank's diary focused on things that any 13-year-old girl would, from raging adolescent hormones to a crush on a fellow refugee in the attic.
Anne Frank's story has been told so many times that a new version may always be welcome; I just can't figure out what on earth David Mamet is going to do with it. Do we think he can offer insight into a teen girl's psyche, and if he can, won't that be a little worrisome?
