The Zookeeper’s Wife is heading to the big screen.
Scion Films just landed the rights to Diane Ackerman’s nonfiction best seller. Angela Workman is set to adapt the story into a screenplay.
The book — which spent 54 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list three years ago — tells the story of how Jan and Antonia Zabinski turned the Warsaw Zoo, which they owned, into a safe house for Jews after the Nazis invaded during WWII. The couple hid numerous Jews all over the zoo and in their home. The zoo was known as “The House Under a Crazy Star” to its visitors.
Despite there being about a million films out there centering on the Holocaust and World War II, The Zookeeper’s Wife shouldn’t have a problem attracting attention. Like every major best selling book that’s inevitably turned into a movie, it will have its fans and its haters. But one thing is uncertain: whether or not it will make money.
If its heavy and heartbreaking story is not brought down with poor casting or direction, then it could appeal to audiences outside of the built-in literary base, but if it is, then it could sink. I’m holding my two cents back until I hear some talent announced.
Source: Variety
