James Franco's Southern Gothic 'Child of God' Gets a New Trailer

Here’s a trailer for a James Franco movie that (probably) won’t start a war with North Korea.

Child of God — which the star also co-wrote, produced, directed — is an adaptation of the 1973 novel by Pulitzer Prize-winner Cormac McCarthy, author of No Country for Old Men and The Road. It’s the chilling story a pathological loner’s descent into crime and madness.

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Franco’s latest directorial effort is a meditative piece based on an acclaimed novel set in the South, much like his 2013 drama As I Lay Dying. Child of God also features a breakout performance by Scott Haze, who worked with Franco on his last film (and his experimental Interior. Leather Bar.) Tim Blake Nelson and True Blood's Jim Parrack also return to co-star.

Child of God played at the Venice, Toronto, New York and Austin International Film Festivals, and will open in select cities on Aug. 1. Among the many projects Franco has on his busy schedule are a biopic of writer Charles Bukowski, and another Faulkner adaptation The Sound and the Fury — with Haze and Nelson returning for both films.