“Diary of a Teenage Girl” director Marielle Heller is bringing Tom Hanks to Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Heller will direct “You Are My Friend,” which is about “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” star Fred RogersThe film will focus on Rogers’ friendship with journalist Tom Junod. “The cynical journalist begrudgingly accepts an assignment to write a profile piece on the beloved TV icon Mr. Rogers and finds his perspective on life transformed,” THR details. Hanks will portray the host of the beloved children’s program.
Production is scheduled to begin in September. Heller will direct from Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster’s screenplay, which made the 2013 Black List. Big Beach Films’ Leah Holzer is among the project’s executive producers.
“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” ran from 1968 to 2001 and produced nearly 900 episodes. Rogers won several Daytime Emmys for his work and received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys in 1997. The show received a slew of accolades during its run, including a Peabody Award in 1969. Rogers, who is also the subject of this year’s Sundance doc “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” died in 2003.
Heller recently wrapped production on her second feature film, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” The Melissa McCarthy-starrer tells the story of Lee Israel, a celebrity journalist who turns to forging letters from late writers and actors in order to revitalize her career. The dark comedy hits theaters October 19. Heller is also attached to helm “The Case Against 8” and “Kolma.” The former is a narrative film about the fight against Proposition 8, the California bill that banned same-sex marriage. The latter is a fantasy-thriller about a married woman given the opportunity to relive her first love. Daisy Ridley is expected to star.
Heller, who won Best First Feature for “Diary of a Teenage Girl” at the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards, has also directed episodes of “Casual” and “Transparent.”
“I was so blown away by the honesty of the depiction of female adolescence, I knew I had to do something with the material,” Heller said of Phoebe Gloeckner’s graphic novel “Diary of a Teenage Girl.” “It was the most vulnerable, relatable version of a teenage girl I had ever come across, and I realized how starved we are for such characters.”
