Stephen Fry to write, direct film version of his novel The Stars' Tennis Balls

Actor-author Stephen Fry will write and direct a screen version of his novel The Stars' Tennis Balls, reports Variety. The film will be Fry's second directorial effort, following Bright Young Things, an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies. (Fry is attending the Cannes Film Festival with a 20-minute promotional reel of the film, to attract interest from foreign sales agents.) Taking its title from a quote from The Duchess of Malfi, which refers to the cruel whims of fate, Tennis Balls is described by Fry as a modern-day retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo.