Essential Entertainment is making a bigscreen version of Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons, with Liz Friedlander (Take the Lead) set to direct from John Watson's script.

According to Variety, it's the first time Wolfe has allowed one of his novels to be optioned for a feature since Bonfire of the Vanities in 1987. The author also optioned A Man in Full to NBC.

I Am Charlotte Simmons centers on an Ivy League student who must undergo her first substantial disillusionment and betrayal after she lands in an unforgiving world.

No production date has been set.