James Franco Nixes Broadway Debut

Oscar-nominated actor James Franco will not be making his Broadway debut this fall, it turns out.

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Franco has dropped out of the planned Broadway production of the Tennessee Williams play Sweet Bird of Youth, co-starring Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, the Associated Press reports. The play revolves around has been movie actress, Princess Kosmonopolis, and a drifter, Chance Wayne, who uses her as he attempts to get her back to making films.

David Cromer, who has helmed Our Town and The Adding Machine, is attached to direct.

Scott Rudin, who is producing the upcoming Broadway revival Death of a Salesman with Andrew Garfield and Philip Seymour Hoffman, is attached to Sweet Bird of Youth as well.

The original Broadway production, nominated for several Tony Awards, was produced in March 1959 and was directed by Elia Kazan. Paul Newman, Geraldine Page and Sidney Blackmer were among its stars.

Franco, studying at Yale to earn his doctorate in English, most recently starred in the prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the raunchy comedy Your Highness. He is currently filming Oz: The Great and the Powerful, and has several films in various stages of production.