The man fast becoming a legend amongst his peers whilst only in his mid-30s, James Franco is moving into directing features, having helmed a bunch of self-financed shorts.
According to Entertainment Weekly, via Darkhorizons.com, Franco has written scripts for adaptations of both William Faulkner's 1930's family drama, As I Lay Dying and Cormac McCarthy's 1985 semi-apocalyptic western, Blood Meridian - the latter of which has been called "unfilmable." 'Dying' could shoot as early as this summer, while 'Meridian' will go in front of cameras sometime in 2012.
Franco has spent a lot of time at film school in New York, and has bided his time working on student projects before fully stepping behind the camera for a Hollywood production. I wouldn't bet against either being brilliant; but when his acting career is going so well, it takes genuine balls to tackle something like the aforementioned projects as director.
