James Franco has dabbled in blockbusters, his own independent works, various art projects, novels, Oscar hosting, teaching and much, much more, but for his next venture he’s taken on one of America’s finest authors. Adapting William Faulkner is seemingly no easy task, but Cannes Film Festival has at least approved of the work, showing his take on As I Lay Dying in their Un Certain Regard section.
Ahead of its impending premiere, we’ve now got the first trailer from the drama, which sees Franco star alongside Logan Marshall-Green, Danny McBride, Tim Blake Nelson, Ahna O’Reilly, Beth Grant, Jesse Heiman and more. Heavily (and smartly) focusing on Faulkner’s words, this trailer doesn’t hint that Franco has stepped out of his low-budget constraints, but hopefully the source material is enough to provide a directorial effort worth seeing. We’ll find out momentarily and one can check out the trailer and poster below.
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.
As I Lay Dying premieres at Cannes.