It’s been a while since we’ve heard any news about the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties, so I was super excited to see a new trailer out today. To be honest, it’s almost exactly the same as the trailer released last fall, but it’s so engaging, and this movie looks so good, I don’t even care.
How to Talk to Girls at Parties is based on Gaiman’s 2007 Hugo-nominated short story of the same name. The story is fantastic and somewhat cryptic (you can read it in full or download the audio on Gaiman’s website), as it’s limited to the protagonist’s memories of one party, where he and his friend meet a group of mysterious young, for lack of a better term, women. I absolutely love the source material and the endearing clumsiness with which the boy, Enn, tries to talk, and fails to listen to, let alone actually comprehend, this roomful of aliens.
As much as I loved Gaiman’s story–which was adapted into a beautiful comic book a few years ago–I’m excited to see this story extended. The adaptation comes from John Cameron Mitchell, the creator and original star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and the trailer makes it look like we’ll get a lot more from the perspective of the aliens. Elle Fanning’s Zan wasn’t a character in the original story–an alien fascinated by Earth and this human boy, whose rebellion matches perfectly with Enn’s in a sort of punk boy-meets-alien girl Romeo & Juliet. (But hopefully without all the death.)
My only gripe with the trailer is that for 1970s London, even in the punk scene, this cast is very white. At least Nicole Kidman’s Bowie aesthetic is perfection.
What say all of you? Are you excited for this adaptation? According to Twitter, How to Talk to Girls at Parties opens May 18th, but that might only be in the UK. As far as I can see, it doesn’t have a US release date yet beyond “coming soon.”
(image: screencap)
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