Watch The Trailer For James Franco’s Passion Project The Sound and the Fury

You wouldn't have guessed that to adapt William Faulkner's tragic Deep South odyssey, The Sound and the Fury, that director James Franco would have rounded up his comedy bros Seth Rogen and Danny McBride. But that's exactly what he did, as you'll see in the film's heavy first trailer, which also features Franco as the mentally (and dentally) challenged Benjy Compson, and a slew of other great character actors.

The Sound and the Fury is of course considered one of the great novels in American history, telling the harrowing story of the fall of the Compson family over three generations. It speaks to both Franco's ambition as an artist and confidence as a filmmaker that we would attempt to take such a well-known and difficult story like this on, instead of coasting on his movie star pedigree. Get a glimpse of how he did above.