James Franco Going to 'Homefront'

Looks like James Franco is making a little more room on his already full plate.

The well-known actor/writer/soon-to-be director/student - and whatever else there is to be - has joined the cast of the Sylvester Stallone scripted, Homefront, alongside action-star Jason Statham.

Homefront will be directed by Gary Fleder (Kiss the Girls, Runaway Jury) through Avi Lerner's production company, Millennium Films.

The flick - set to start filming this fall - centers on the character of Phil Broker (Statham) who after a career as a DEA agent, moves his family to a quiet town hoping to escape his violent past of combating crime.  However, Broker soon finds his new town overrun with corruption and drug trafficking, led by the villainous Gator (Franco), an evil meth magnate.  To protect the ones he loves, Broker must jump back into action.

Avi Lerner had this to say regarding the film:

"I cannot think of a better group to put this film on the big screen.  Sly's script is fantastic, James and Jason are remarkable actors and Gary really knows how direct this type of film. We start production at the end of September in New Orleans."

Even though the plot sounds like just another standard shoot-em-up action film, I'm actually rather excited for this one.  Franco is as versatile an actor as they come and Stallone seems to be turning Statham into himself for a new generation, having him star in his own scripts he probably would have done himself years ago.

Maybe Sly will give himself a nice little cameo for the film.

Homefront will likely hit theaters late next year.