Depending on how much you follow the many and varied adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s work chugging their way through development, you may recall that, back in 2010, Rabbit Hole** writer / director John Cameron Mitchell was working on an adaptation of Gaiman’s short story How To Talk To Girls At Parties. Fast forward to today, and Elle Fanning is attached to play one of the lead roles{
Mitchell wrote the script with Philippa Goslett, adapting Gaiman’s 2006 story that followed two teen boys who attend a party in 1970s London. While one of the friends has charm to spare and soon finds himself paired off, the other is much more awkward and has to figure out how to strike up conversations with the girls at the party. And, as it turns out, they’re not quite what they appear...
In the script, the tale has been shifted to focus on one boy, who sees music and art as a means of escape, and an alien girl looking to ditch her dull tour group and explore the place she has heard is the most dangerous in the galaxy – Croydon. With Fanning aboard as the female lead, the team can start sorting out financing and finally getting the movie made.
Fanning, who last appeared in Maleficent, voices a role in The Boxtrolls, which emerges on September 12. She’ll also be seen in sci-fi drama Young Ones.