Pic to paint new shades of Graydon

Pegg to play Brit writer Young in 'Alienate' adaptation

By ADAM DAWTREY

Now that Meryl Streep has played a bigscreen version of Vogue editor Anna Wintour in "The Devil Wears Prada" and lived, which star has the guts -- and the right kind of gray wavy hair -- to impersonate Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter?

Simon Pegg ("Shaun of the Dead") has been cast to play self-promoting Brit writer Toby Young in the movie adaptation of his bestselling book "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," in which he detailed his disastrous stint as a contributing editor for Vanity Fair in Gotham.

Young is merciless about his own hapless attempts to ingratiate himself with celebrities and impress supermodels. But he is equally scathing about the ego and grandeur of his boss Carter, and the self-importance of the entire Vanity Fair machine.

All names have been changed for the purposes of the movie -- Vanity Fair becomes Sharps magazine, for example, and Carter will be Clayton Harding -- but that's not going to fool anyone.

Robert Weide, director of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," will make his feature helming debut with the project, scripted by Peter Straughan. Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen of Number 9 Films are producing.

With Pegg now inked for the lead, casting is under way for the part of Carter -- sorry, Harding -- with a view to shooting in New York and the U.K. next spring.