First look at James Franco's 'As I Lay Dying'

Even if it can be said that James Franco isn't one of the most polished filmmakers around just yet, he's certainly not lacking in ambition or motivation. He's quietly owned the festival season for the last couple of years, with nary an event going by without some new project he's directed or or had a hand in making its premiere. At Sundance he gave us a controversial twofer in Kink and Interior. Leather Bar, but his biggest swing at the plate will unspool at Cannes when his adaptation of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying debuts.

The first image from the film has emerged via EW, showing Franco alongside True Blood co-star Jim Parrack. Considered one of Faulkner's crowning achievements but also unfilmmable due to the 59 chapters and more than 15 narrators, Franco has spent the last few years perfecting his approach to adapting it. Tim Blake Nelson, Ahna O'Reilly, Danny McBride, Logan Marshall-Green will join Franco in the story that chronicles one Mississippi family's calamitous journey to honor their dying mother's final wish to be buried in another town.

Given Franco's celebrity, it's odd that none of his passion projects have been able to make much of a splash. But Faulkner is one of the most beloved authors in literary history, and this film is going to have a lot of eyes on it. As I Lay Dying debuts next month at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard category.