Not content with making movies out of the books of William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy, James Franco apparently has plans to expand his repertoire to include the work of Chuck Palahniuk, as reports have surfaced that Franco just purchased the rights to Palahniuk’s novel Rant.
For those are not Palahniuk-philes, Rant tells the story of Buster “Rant” Casey, a high school rebel who leaves his small town to journey to the big city and become the leader of an “urban demolition derby” known as Party Crashing. Following his violent death, Rant’s friends collect information needed to tell an oral history of his life as “the most efficient serial killer of our time.”
Well, that does sound like good fodder for a film. It’s unclear whether Franco will be directing, producing, or merely starring in the film version of Rant, though personally I hope for the latter. Franco’s a fine actor when he puts his mind to it, and I can definitely see him lending his talents to the role of a Chuck Palahniuk protagonist whose violent ways wind him up dead on the side of the highway.
We must remember that there have been only two adaptations of Palahniuk’s novels: David Fincher’s brilliant Fight Club, and Choke, which was directed by Clark Gregg (that surprised me, actually) and starred Sam Rockwell. While we can all agree that Fight Club has a lot going for it, Choke was slightly less popular. Of all contemporary novelists, Palahniuk is probably one of the toughest to adapt. Given Franco’s track record of adapting unadaptable book, if he does choose to direct Rant it will not surprise me in the least.
We will continue to keep an eye out for more news on Rant and what part James Franco will play in bringing it to the big screen, so stay tuned!
