James Franco is set to direct and star in 'Garden of Last Days'.
The 'Oz the Great and Powerful' actor has signed on to helm the big screen adaptation of Andre Dubus III's best-selling book of the same name, Deadline reports.
'Olympus Has Fallen' star Gerard Butler has taken on the task of producing the movie, along with Alan Siegel, Danielle Robinson and Hanna Weg, who wrote the script.
Regular Franco collaborators Vince Jolivette and Miles Levy will also produce.
The feature, described as a contemporary thriller, will follow the lives of three deeply flawed people whose paths are interwoven. The three characters include a bitter, lonely man thrown out of a club; a stripper who brings her three-year-old daughter into work with her; and a wealthy foreigner who is on the verge of committing a frightful act.
Millennium Films are financing the film and shooting is scheduled to begin on July 8 in New York.
Dubus originally set his novel around the time of 9/11, but allowed Franco to alter the storyline to present day.
The 34-year-old actor will next work with Kate Hudson and Omar Sy on 'Good People', which is set to begin production following Cannes Film Festival next month, where Franco will screen his current directorial effort, 'As I Lay Dying'.
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