James Franco has announced plans to make a film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s third novel Child Of God. Franco, who was at the Toronto International Film Festival, was asked by a fan if the rumours where true that he would direct an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.
Franco replied by saying that he is attached to the project, but it was on hold and that he would make an adaptation of another McCarthy novel, Child Of God. Here’s exactly what the actor had to say when asked if the rumours were true:
“We shot a 20 minute test of it (Blood Meridian) that turned out pretty well… we were gearing up to do the feature but that for various reasons it’s on hold, but we are going to make a movie based on his (Cormac McCarthy’s) third book Child Of God.”
The plot synopsis for Child Of God, is as follows:
“Set in mountainous Servier Sounty, Tennessee Child of God tells the story of Lester Ballard, a dispossessed, violent man whom the narrator describes as “a child of God much like yourself perhaps.” Ballard’s life is a disastrous attempt to exist outside the social order. Successively deprived of parents and homes and with few other ties, Ballard descends literally and figuratively to the level of a cave dweller as he falls deeper into crime and degradation.”
There is no more news on when we can expect this, but Franco recently directed Sal, based on the life of the actor Sal Mineo, in 9 days, which just debuted at the Venice Film Festival. Franco also directed a film at the end of last year titled The Broken Tower, which was a biopic about the poet Hart Crane, which Franco also stared in, as Crane.
Franco also recently dropped out of his Broadway debut in a adaptation of Tennessee William’s Sweet Bird Of Youth, with Nicole Kidman. He was at the film festival promoting his installation/documentary piece Memories of Idaho, which consists of two pieces, My Own Private River and Idaho, which Franco collaborated with Gus Van Sant on.
Franco who is one of the world’s busiest artists, and I say artist as one man who has covered that many different forms of art (film, writing, visual art) can only be described as such. He is also currently working on two documentaries he is directing; one about Kink.com, a porn website, and the other about his time on the soap General Hospital.
You can check out the video below, where Franco talks about his adaptation of Child Of God and Blood Meridian, which occurs at about 33:20.