Now that
she’s broken free of the Spider-Man franchise, Kirstin Dunst is free to
alienate fans of other works. (I have to say that the fanboy vendetta against Dunst
still has me vaguely mystified.) Ironically, one of her first new career steps
will be an adaptation of How To Lose
Friends And Alienate People, by British author Toby Young.
The book
is Young’s memoir of his short stint at Vanity
Fair, where he found a humiliating class structure and an unwelcoming high
society that greet the media who maintain their status with unveiled disdain. Young’s
attempts to climb the social ladder or just get a date with someone hot enough
to be seen in public are variably seen as hilarious or irritating, depending on
perspective.
Want the
good news? Sydney Young, the author’s thinly veiled alter-ego, will be played
by Simon Pegg. If there’s anyone who can transmogrify obnoxious social ambition
into charm and/or satire, it’s Pegg.
Further sweetening
the deal, frequent Curb Your Enthusiasm director Robert B Weide will be calling
the shots when production begins next month.