Elle Fanning Cast in Neil Gaiman's HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES

Maleficent co-star Elle Fanning has been cast in the lead role in the big screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman's short story How to Talk to Girls at Parties. The movie will be directed by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus, Rabbit Hole).

The story was published in 2006, and it follows "two teen boys who go to a party in 1970s London. While one has no trouble scoring a girl right off the bat, the shy one is left to fend for himself and has to find a way to make conversation. He soon finds out that the girls at the party are more than they seem."

According to THR, the script that was written by Philippa Goslett and Mitchell "turns Parties into more of a two-hander love story focusing on a schoolboy and ‎punk who uses music and art as a way to escape and a female alien tourist (Fanning) who wants to escape her tour group and explore the most dangerous place in the galaxy, the London suburb of Croydon."

I love reading Gaiman's work, but this is one that I haven't read. It sounds like it has some great potential though. Fanning is one hell of a talented young actress, and this seems like a great fit for her. This is definitely a different film project than anything Mitchell has worked on before, so it will be interesting to see what his adaptation will look like.