James Franco To Direct Adaptation Of Cormac McCarthy Novel

James Franco To Direct Cormac McCarthy Film

James Franco's now-legendary energy showed no sign of letting up as he announced plans to direct an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel 'Child of God.' Franco was previously planning on adapting another of McCarthy's novels, 'Blood Meridian,' but the actor reportedly switched gears, commenting "we were gearing up to do the feature but... for various reasons it's on hold." 'Child of God' revolves around a violent man falsely accused of rape who descends to becoming a cave dweller, physically and culturally removed from society.

The novel is among McCarthy's darkest, with recurring themes of sexual deviance, including pedophilia and necrophilia. A striking description of necrophilia from the novel reads: "Scuttling down the mountain with the thing on his back he looked like a man beset by some ghast succubus, the dead girl riding him with legs bowed akimbo like a monstrous frog." Though it's a far cry from the lighter fare of Franco's early career, the actor's recent encroachment into media art has suggested a commitment to pushing boundaries.

Why the switch from one McCarthy novel to another? Maybe it is because Franco knows what it is like to be a child of God himself; he recently finished his last directorial feat with biopic 'Sal' about actor Sal Mineo, and According to STV, two more directorial projects are in the works, one on pornography webstite kink.com and another on Franco's 'General Hospital' acting stint. He is currently promoting his installation 'Memories of Idaho,' a collaboration with Gus Van Sant, and last week he made a thirteen-year-old's day by buying her artwork at the Toronto International Film Festival.

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