Broadway's SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH with Nicole Kidman Delayed; James Franco Drops Out

The NY Times reports that James Franco will not be participating in the upcoming revival of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth alongside Nicole Kidman, as had previously been set. While no dates had been announced for the production, Kidman had been attached to the production officially as 'Alexandra', while the last reports indicate that Franco had all but signed on the dotted line for the role of 'Chance'.  Back in January he told MTV that he planned to participate in the production, while later in the winter the revival's director David Cromer told the New York Times that he believed it was a done deal.

Back in February Cromer told the Times:"he seems like a really decisive guy, so given that he's saying he wants to do the play, I think he'll do it," adding, "Very rarely do you find an actor who can really take on the varied complications of this character, which is one of those virtually uncastable Williams parts...Chance has to be a moron and a poet, and he also has to be fantastically great looking. It's one of my favorite plays, but it's such a mountain, and James and I were in total agreement that the production had to be about the play rather than making it about us."

Additional details are forthcoming.

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Franco can be seen in "127 Hours", for which he received an Oscar nomination last year as well. His other film credits include "Eat, Love, Pray," "Date Night," "Milk" and "Pineapple Express." Franco is also known for his portrayals of Harry Osborn in the "Spider-Man" trilogy.

Sweet Bird of Youth (1959) tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star (to be played by Kidman), Princess Kosmonopolis (a.k.a., Alexandra Del Lago), who he hopes to use to help him break into the movies. The main reason he returns to his home town is to get back what he had in his youth; primarily, his old girlfriend, whose father had run him out of town years before.

The show has been seen on Broadway twice with the original production (starring Paul Newman,Geraldine Page, Sidney Blackmer, Madeleine Sherwood, Diana Hyland, Logan Ramsey, John Napierand Rip Torn) in 1959. A 1975 revival starred Christopher Walken and Irene Worth and won Worth a Tony Award for Best Actress. A London production in 1985 starred Lauren Bacall and later played Los Angeles.

It's been seen on the big and small screen as well, with Paul Newman, Geraldine Page and Shirley Night starring in a 1962 movie that was nominated for 3 Academy Awards, and a 1989 TV movie Starring ElizaBeth Taylor and Mark Harmon.