Back in the spring, James Franco hit Cannes with “As I Lay Dying,” an experimental drama and adaptation of William Faulkner’s book that utilized all kinds of split-screen to surprisingly decent effect, even if the movie as a whole didn’t amount to much more than a curiosity. Whether that latter charge will be true or not on his forthcoming “Child Of God” remains to be seen, but we now have a very brief taste.
The first teaser trailer for the movie is here and it doesn’t offer much except scruffy lead Scott Haze staring into the camera. Based on the book by Cormac McCarthy, the film tells the story of Lester Ballard, an exile already on the fringes who retreats to living in a cave, falling into crime and debauchery. Fun! As this new look at the movie suggests, it’s going to be some real grimy stuff coming our way.
Co-starring Franco, Tim Blake Nelson and Jim Parrack, the movie hits Venice and TIFF in the next couple of weeks, but there’s no distributor or release date set just yet. [Deadline]