James Franco’s AS I LAY DYING Gets A Trailer

Save your Mystery Box, JJ Abrams. The 2013 movie that has my curiosity piqued is James Franco's adaptation of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. This is a book that, frankly, I never imagined being adapted simply because there's nothing to it that feels right for the screen. The book is, without a doubt, an absolute masterpiece, but what makes As I Lay Dying the stunning work that it is is Faulkner's writing. Each chapter is told from a different POV as a family escorts their mother's corpse to her final resting place. Each of those POVs are largely stream-of-consciousness, each is utterly unique, and each adds up to a kaleidoscopic vision of the world. Also, one of the POVs is the corpse. 

I just don't know how you make that book into a movie while preserving anything that makes the book special. Then again, that's why I'm not a filmmaker, I guess. I don't have the vision. 

There are some who roll their eyes at everything Franco does, but stuff like this excites me. It's a challenge, and he's likely to fall flat on his face with it, but he still goes forward. That's how everything in the world advances - people aren't afraid to fail. Faulkner simply didn't write As I Lay Dying because the concept seemed safe.