Tom Wolfe's Charlotte Simmons heading to the big screen

Tom Wolfe's 2005 novel, I Am Charlotte Simmons (Picador), about an innocent country girl facing the comparative social wilds of an American college, will get its chance to shock theater audiences when music video director Liz Friedlander takes all its scandalous content to full-length feature format next year. The last book the newspaper reporter-turned-bestselling author optioned for film was 1987's The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Freidlander's previous directorial credits include episodes of One Tree Hill, 2006's Antonio Banderas-led Take The Lead and a segment in Blink 182: Greatest Hits, as well as music videos for the likes of U2.

John Watson, screenwriter for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is slated to adapt Charlotte for the screen, /Film reports.

Because of Wolfe's trademark style of dress (see above), the director's resume, and the screenwriter's history of working on (gasp) a Kevin Costner film, the bloggerati have already started to make fun. But we're going to wait to pass judgement when we actually see the thing.

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