James Franco has acquired the rights to adapt Chuck Palahniuk novel Rant for film.
The 36-year-old actor optioned the book through his Rabbit Bandini Productions company. Franco and business partner Vince Jolivette are eyeing Pamela Romanowsky to write and direct the movie.
"Buster Casey is coming to the big screen," Palahniuk announced Thursday on Twitter. "@JamesFrancoTV just optioned RANT!"
"As of last night we've finalized a deal for James Franco to option my novel Rant," he said in a statement Friday. "Details about the casting, shooting and a proposed release date will be forthcoming. Hurray. After the opportunity to work with Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Sam Rockwell, I can't imagine a more exciting actor to work with than Franco."
Rant follows the character Buster Casey, nickname "Rant," and is set in a dystopian future where people take part in demolition derbies to experience a more vivid reality. The novel is Palahniuk's third book to be adapted for film; Pitt and Norton starred in Fight Club in 1999, and Rockwell and Angelica Huston starred in Choke in 2008.
Franco has adapted a number of books for film, including Cormac McCarthy's Child of God and William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury. The actor is scheduled to appear in True Story and The Interview later this year.