In a nice bit of “what-the-hell-were-you-thinking-in-the-first-place,” Disney has placed their The Diary of Anne Frank project in turnaround (you probably became very familiar with this term if you followed the Moneyball developments), deeming it “too dark” for their brand. Need we remind you Disney for some reason thought it was a good idea to have David “Muthaf*cker” Mamet adapt the book, which inherently carries darkness since it’s, you know, about the HOLOCAUST! Maybe if Mamet had been given a co-writer in the form of David “C*cksucking c*nt” Milch, it would have been to Disney’s liking. More befitting, perhaps.

In Disney’s defense, it appears the script turned in went through a bit of an Adaptation-like process in that it was less about “The Diary of Anne Frank” and more about “a contemporary Jewish girl who goes to Israel and learns about the traumas of suicide bombing,” says the The Wrap.

Since the project is in turnaround, there are no guarantees it’ll be made and Disney is in limbo since the stepping down of their studio head, recently. It just seems something like this happening was all too obvious. I’d be curious to read Mamet’s script, though.

Disney has purchased the rights for a new film version of “The Diary of Anne Frank” and have tapped writer-director David Mamet (Redbelt) to preside over the production.

Mamet will cull together pieces of the infamous diary and the original play by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich to piece together his production. He’s also expected to bring his own take on the material, telling Frank’s story as a young girl’s rite-of-passage.

Anne Frank’s diary was written during her family’s time hidden in the Netherlands during the German occupation. She was eventually arrested and thrown into a concentration camp where she died of typhus. She was 15.

There are two oddities I find in this story. The first is that Disney is doing a film about Anne Frank. A studio synonymous with children’s fare is depicting one of the hardest lives lived by a child. The second oddity is that David Mamet, very much an adult storyteller, will be realizing the feature film. He’ll almost certainly bring his unique brand of dialogue to the table and you have to wonder just how many curse words a 15-year-old Anne will spout. Need we forget, Mamet brought us this classic. Again, I think it’s an odd combination, but one that certainly intrigues. What do you think of the potential?