David Mamet's 'Anne Frank' Remake Scrapped

In your heart of hearts, you kind of knew that David Mamet and The Diary of Anne Frank went together like oil and Al Gore, but I certainly didn't expect the project to get the axe so quickly. The Wrap reports that Disney was completely not in tune with the legendary writer, who turned the story into something that was just "too dark" for what the studio wanted. Nor was it, in fact, The Diary of Anne Frank. Mamet reportedly began exploring modern anti-Semitism, branching off from the Frank's diaries and exploring the life of a "contemporary Jewish girl who goes to Israel and learns about the traumas of suicide bombing." Recounted one Disney executive, "It's very intense, and dark and scary. It's not a film version of The Diary of Anne Frank. The story evolved into something more intense." I know Mamet is revered and all that, but shouldn't there be better lines of communication than what apparently existed here? How do you get hired to write a new Anne Frank and then turn in something without Anne Frank? And if you're Disney, how do you not ask if Mamet gets what they want the project to be before he knocks it out? On the plus side, Mamet now has a new play about modern anti-Semitism that could co-star Rebecca Pidgeon. So the project, one I think we're ready for, will wait for a while. With Disney's recent shake-up at the top, there is a holding pattern at the studio on films not yet in development. And of course, since they'll have to start over from scratch now, it doesn't really matter.

Comments

[SEAN]

Mamet's an amazing writer , Im actually not surprised he wanted to take it into a darker more intense film, because that could have been very interesting and affecting...
-It would be a new take on a story all of us know...

But if he left out Anne Frank like your suggesting, thats just kinda ridiculous, but I feel like I see where he was going...

Disney plays it safe so I'm not surprised with their decision to dump the project...

[western digital]

Between the ages of 13 and 15, Anne wrote short stories, fairy tales, essays, and the beginnings of a novel. Five notebooks and more than 300 loose pages, meticulously handwritten during her two years in hiding, survived the war.