David Mamet Will Direct Screen Version of His Speed-the-Plow

Madonna made her Broadway debut in the original production of the 1988 play.

David Mamet will direct his screenplay for the film version of his 1988 Broadway drama Speed-the-Plow, according to Deadline.com.

As previously reported on Playbill.com, Hollywood has been working for more than a year to make a movie of Speed-the-Plow, Mamet's scathing takedown of the Hollywood decision-making process. Michael Polish was originally scheduled to direct, but he has exited the project.

The original 1988 Broadway production starred Ron Silver, Joe Mantegna and Madonna. A London revival was staged in 2014 starring Lindsay Lohan. Mamet will begin casting the film shortly with filming expected to begin in February 2017.

Producers of the film include Randall Emmett and George Furla from Emmett/Furla/Oasis and Winkler Films' Irwin Winkler.

The play tells the story of a pair of Hollywood producers who are all set to make a big-budget action film with a name star, but the plan gets derailed when a sexy secretary brings them an uncommercial script that she convinces one of them would be a great prestige project.

The show was revived on Broadway in 2008 starring Raul Esparza, Elizabeth Moss and Jeremy Piven, the latter of whom was replaced in succession by Norbert Leo Butz, Jordan Lage and William H. Macy. The play's title was considered a mystery for a long time, until Mamet cleared it up (slightly) saying in an interview that he remembered seeing the phrase "Industry produces wealth, God speed the plow" on an old plate, and felt it related to the themes of the play.

Mamet's plays are known for delving into the unique argots of various American walks of life. His Glengarry Glen Ross captured the speech patterns of real estate salesmen; his November did the same (in a comic way) for politicians; his A Life in the Theatre did so for actors; and his American Buffalo did so for small-time crooks. But the movie industry has exerted a strange fascination for Mamet. He has written about various aspects of it in his film scripts for Wag the Dog and State and Main.