Actor James Franco is looking to direct two upcoming adaptations, As I Lay Dying and Blood Meridian.

Franco adapted the screenplay As I Lay Dying from the William Faulkner novel and is in talks to direct for Fox Searchlight. It seems the project is close to moving forward, with James hoping to get started as early as this spring. The novel centers around the Bundren family as they travel into town to bury their dead mother.

The actor is apparently also in talks to direct Blood Meridian for producer Scott Rudin, which would shoot in 2012. It isn't clear if he is adapting the Cormac McCarthy novel himself. Blood Meridian is set in 1847 and revolves around a teenage vagabond known only as "The Kid" who gets into various adventures while drifting through the American Southwest.

Producer Scott Rudin did issue a statement which "downplayed" the original story, without flat out denying it, so it isn't quite clear if James Franco is in talks for Blood Meridian or not.