The first trailer for James Franco’s adaptation of the William Faulkner novel As I Lay Dying has arrived.  Adapting an author as verbose and complex as Faulkner is no easy task, but Franco is tackling As I Lay Dying head on as both director and star.  Given Franco’s incredibly varied tastes, it’s tough to tell if this film is a serious adaptation or just another one of his art experiments.  The drama is certainly played straightforward in this trailer, but the appearance of someone like Danny McBride in the cast is striking.  The verdict on the pic will be in soon enough, as the film is slated to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival which kicks off this week.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Tim Blake Nelson, Logan Marshall Green, Ahna O’Reilly, and Jim Parrack.

Via Yahoo Movies.

Here’s a synopsis for As I Lay Dying:

AS I LAY DYING is an upcoming drama film directed by and starring James Franco, based on the book by William Faulkner and charts the story of the Bundren family and their attempts to bury Addie Bundren in the town of Jefferson. It has been selected to be screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Franco himself stars as Darl Bundren, the son of a woman who has recently died, and whose family is attempting to honor her wish of being buried in a town forty miles away from the family home. Tim Blake Nelson plays the widowed patriarch and Franco’s father, while Jim Parrack (True Blood) plays one of his brothers. Danny McBride, who previously co-starred with Franco in the extreme stoner comedy “Pineapple Express,” Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus) and Ahna O’Reilly (The Help) also star in the film.

as-i-lay-dying-poster

as-i-lay-dying-james-franco