When he’s running on-set book clubs, it’s no surprise James Franco can switch Cormac McCarthy adaptations pretty easily. Franco has reportedly begun filming, directing, and starring in Child of God in West Virginia, although he independently shot test scenes for a more well-known McCarthy work, Blood Meridian, in 2010. When that adaptation fell apart, Franco went on record last September saying Child of God would be next. There’s no way this film won’t make waves if it comes to fruition — the 1973 novel is like an Ed Gein origin tale amplified by McCarthy’s brutal sensibility … with the necrophiliac serial murderer, Lester Ballard, as the story’s protagonist. It’ll be interesting to see if Franco or reported co-star Tim Blake Nelson takes the controversial lead.
