Oscar Nominee James Franco Set To Direct 'As I Lay Dying'

The '127 Hours' star and Oscar host tells MTV News he'll helm movie based on William Faulkner's novel this summer.
By Aly Semigran, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

James Franco
Photo: MTV News

James Franco may very well be Hollywood's ultimate Renaissance man. In addition to his already busy 2011 schedule, which includes attending the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, both as first-time host and Best Actor nominee (for "127 Hours"), the actor/writer/student will also tackle directing duties.

Over the weekend, MTV News managed to catch a minute with Franco at the Sundance Film Festival, where he revealed to us yet another impressive future endeavor. The star spilled, "This summer I'm going to direct a movie based on William Faulkner's novel 'As I Lay Dying.' "

Franco, who has in the past done some work behind the camera, explained, "I shoot a test of the whole movie before I make a movie. So we just shot a test."

Despite working from a lengthy script (160 pages, to be exact), Franco did an entire pre-shoot with actors in North Carolina on New Year's Day. And in keeping with his already unorthodox methods, the 32-year-old noted that the actors he used for the test filming won't necessarily be the ones he works with on the final product.

While Franco says he "might" appear in his adaptation of "As I Lay Dying," he has his sights set on his favorite actor, "Boardwalk Empire" and "Revolutionary Road" star Michael Shannon, whom he has worked with twice before. The cast already includes Paul Dano ("Little Miss Sunshine," "There Will Be Blood") and, if all works out for Franco, Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor," "Six Feet Under") and Joaquin Phoenix will be onboard as well.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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It's not long now before the 2011 royal rumble kicks off and this year's event is different from the older ones as 40 members will take part. Last year at the 2010 event, Edge and John Cena were the 2 final men left in the ring and Edge managed to spear his opponent and remove him from the ring and become the winner.

Now this time many superstars are new, I mean who are participating first time in their carrier, who is participating like The Nexus and The Corre. Anyway everyone is very waiting for start of event.The Royal Rumble 2011 is scheduled to be held on this Sunday, January 30, 2011, starting at 8PM EST on Pay-Per-View which will have a live stream. The event will take place in Boston, MA. The main event just takes place to have a few ties to Oklahoma also, in the form of Royal Rumble contestant Jack Swagger and former commentator, Jim Ross.

So an eagerly anticipated event tonight for wrestling fans and the winner of the match earns a place in the main event at Wrestlemania this summer where he plays the world champion for the world championship belt.

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Miley Cyrus 'Excited' For Fans To See 'So Undercover'

'I've had an awesome time shooting this movie,' actress/singer says in video message to fans.
By Jocelyn Vena

Miley Cyrus
Photo: MileyWorld/ IMM Inc.

Considering she spent years playing a girl who led two lives on "Hannah Montana," Miley Cyrus' upcoming role as an FBI agent who goes "So Undercover" at a college sorority should be an easy transition. Miley recently took to YouTube to update fans on all the fun she had shooting the comedy/action flick. She even spilled the beans on a special actor who joined the movie's "entourage" for a cameo.

" 'Sup guys? It's Miley in my trailer hanging out on the set of 'So Undercover,' " she told fans in the video. "This is actually our last week and a half, which is crazy."

So, what sort of antics have Miley and the cast, including Kelly Osbourne, been up to on the set? "I can't believe how quick it's gone," she said. "We had a really good time. We actually just had a wrap party because the girls are leaving 'cause now it's getting into the relationship of me and my dad. So all the sorority scenes are coming to an end, so all my girls are leaving me.

"We've been working so hard," she continued. "Literally, I'm in every scene except one or two, so we've been here working really long hours. It was nice to have a night just to be able to hang out, all the crew and all the cast, to be able to hang out as friends, not in just a work environment."

That cast includes Jeremy Piven, who apparently has a secret part in the flick. "They let me and Jeremy Piven, who plays one of our characters ... can't tell you who, I'm not allowed. But Jeremy's in this movie, and so he got up on the drums and we played 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll.' "

Bottom line, although the film has been a lot of hard work, Miley thinks it's all been worth it. "I've had an awesome time shooting this movie," she said. "I'm excited for you guys to see it, really digging it. I wanted to tell you guys I love you ... peace."

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The former WWE champions were scheduled to return to TNA on Monday as part of the “They” angle that has been building on TNA Impact. Nash and T were scheduled to reunite the Main Event Mafia with Kurt Angle and Sting and defend TNA’s honor. There is nothing coincidental about the signing of two key players a few days before the start of a major angle in TNA and this is nothing more than reminder that if you want to play with the big boys, you better have all of your guys under contract before you count on them for an angle.

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Apparently, Ryan Hall, got out-kicked down the stretch to finish three seconds slower than the Moroccan-born Mo Trafeh’s 1:02:17, but he was beaming afterward. The roaster list of Houston Marathon 2011 will be Jorge Torres (Boulder, Colo.), an Olympian in 2008 to 10,000 meters, Patrick Smyth (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), the 2010 half-marathon runner-up, 2004 Olympic Games Dan Browne (Chula Vista, Calif.), Jason Lehmkuhl (Minneapolis, Minn.), 2008 Half-Marathon runner-up, and Sergio Reyes (Los Osos, Calif.) 2010 USA Marathon Champion.

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