'The Handmaid's Tale' Director Reed Morano To Helm Anne Frank Drama

Reed Morano may not be directing a Star Wars film, but she's got another high-profile project on her hands. The Emmy Award-winning director of The Handmaid's Tale has been tapped to helm Keeper of the Diary, a drama about Holocaust victim Anne Frank.

Reed Morano is in talks with Fox Searchlight to direct Keeper of the Diary, The Wrap reports.

The post-World War II drama follows Anne Frank's father Otto Frank as he searches for a publisher for his daughter's now-famous diary that she had written while in hiding from the Nazis in the Netherlands. Otto Frank was the sole surviving member of his family after they were arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Anne Frank had died just a few weeks before the concentration camp was liberated.

As we all know, the diary would be published in 1947, going on to be translated into 60 languages and read in every school.

Fox Searchlight won the screenplay co-written by Sam Franco and Evan Kilgore in a five studio bidding war last year. Kenneth Branagh was previously attached to direct Keeper of the Diary and star as Otto, but that deal was never finalized.

The Wrap reports that Morano's schedule opened up for Keeper of the Diary after her current film, the spy thriller The Rhythm Section, was temporarily suspended after star Blake Lively injured her wrist during an action sequence. Morano has kept busy after winning an Emmy for her direction of the first three episodes of The Handmaid's Tale, recently wrapping up the Dakota Fanning and Peter Dinklage-starring I Think We're Alone Now, which premiered to positive buzz at Sundance.

Morano has become one of the most exciting new directors to watch, earning attention for her mysterious meetings with Lucasfilm, which many suspected were for a new Star Wars film. Morano confirmed the meetings, but unfortunately denied that she was directing a Star Wars movie, and those rumors were put to bed.

But Keeper of the Diary sounds like prestigious, award-winning fare. Now that Morano has scooped an Emmy and Directors Guild Award, could an Oscar be next? We'll have to wait to find out.