Cinematographer-turned-director Reed Morano broke out in a major way last year with her work on the hit Hulu series, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which garnered critical acclaim and earned the director an Emmy award. Although her film debut, 2015’s “Meadowland,” was met with, mostly, positive reviews and past work in TV dramas such as “Vinyl,” “Halt & Catch Fire,” and “Billions” put her on the map, directing most of the first season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” was a game-changer for Morano and showcased her raw talent for blocking a scene and bringing a unique, feminist auteur voice to male-dominated TV.
Now, with “The Handmaid’s Tale” in her rearview mirror, it sure looks like Morano’s next film is shaping up to be the biggest project of her career. The Wrap is reporting that the filmmaker is in talks to direct the Anne Frank drama “Keeper of the Diary” for Fox Searchlight. The film would follow Anne Frank’s father Otto and his frustrating search for a publisher of the now famous diary his teenage daughter wrote while hiding from the Nazis during the WWII German occupation of Netherlands. Otto was the only member of the Frank family to survive the holocaust and had as a goal to keep his daughter’s memory alive by publishing the diary which, as most people know by now, became a classic of literature that ended up being published in 60 different languages.
The screenplay, co-written by Sam Franco and Evan Kilgore, was part of a five studio bidding war last year which ultimately had Fox Searchlight winning the rights. Previously, director Kenneth Branagh was in talks to direct the film, as well as star as Otto Frank. But, as you can tell, that deal was never finalized.
The Wrap is also reporting that Morano’s availability for this film changed when there was an unfortunate injury on the set of her newest film, “The Rhythm Section.” Star Blake Lively was injured, and while the extent of the injury was never disclosed, the crew was told to look for other work while they wait for her to heal. This led to Morano potentially signing up for “Keeper of the Diary.” She also has completed work on the film “I Think We’re Alone Now,” starring Dakota Fanning and Peter Dinklage that will see release later this year.
“Keeper of the Diary” is an exciting new project to keep an eye on as it might very well be the perfect match between director and source material. As of right now, there’s no cast or release date, but expect things news to break on that front sooner rather than later.