Julia Stiles Enters The Bell Jar

Woody Allen once described Sylvia Plath as an "interesting poetess whose tragic suicide was misinterpreted as romantic by the college-girl mentality."

Now the next generation of undergraduates will be introduced to Plath with a new movie version of The Bell Jar, produced by lesbian mogul Christine Vachon (Boys Don't Cry, Far From Heaven).

Previously brought to the screen in 1979, Plath's autobiographical novel tells the story of a young writer's mental breakdown, set against the backdrop of the stultifying 1950's, from the Rosenberg executions to handsy college boys.

Julia Stiles (whose Plum Pictures will co-produce with Vachon's Killer Films) will star in this new version, which should gloom its way into theaters in 2008.

Playwright Tristine Skyler will adapt the book, but a director has not yet been attached.