The career chameleon James Franco has delivered the trailer for his next feature, AS I LAY DYING, which is based on the 1930's novel by William Faulkner. Franco plays the lead in the period piece and is joined by co-stars Tim Blake Nelson, Danny McBride, Logan Marshall-Green, Richard Jenkins, and Beth Grant. The pic reminds me of a Terrence Malick film, complete with scenic shots and weird, nonsensical narration. I am not familiar with Faulkner's book, so I can't speak to anything about it being adapted as a positive or negative, but with Franco at the helm it's sure to be an interesting trip.
Here's the trailer:
Here's the synopsis:
AS I LAY DYING is an upcoming drama film directed by and starring James Franco, based on the book by William Faulkner and charts the story of the Bundren family and their attempts to bury Addie Bundren in the town of Jefferson. It has been selected to be screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Franco himself stars as Darl Bundren, the son of a woman who has recently died, and whose family is attempting to honor her wish of being buried in a town forty miles away from the family home. Tim Blake Nelson plays the widowed patriarch and Franco’s father, while Jim Parrack (True Blood) plays one of his brothers. Danny McBride, who previously co-starred with Franco in the extreme stoner comedy “Pineapple Express,” Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus) and Ahna O’Reilly (The Help) also star in the film.
Franco seems to dabble in just about everything, from big budget fare like SPIDER-MAN to oddball comedies like PINEAPPLE EXPRESS to crazy dramas like SPRING BREAKERS and even soap operas. He's one of the most eccentric people working in Hollywood today, that's for sure.
AS I LAY DYING will premiere at Cannes this month with a release date TBD. Franco will next be seen in THIS IS THE END, which opens on June 12, 2013.