Nat Wolff, who you might recognise as Isaac from The Fault In Our Stars, but who also appeared in 2013's Palo Alto alongside James Franco, is teaming back up with the latter for his new directorial effort, In Dubious Battle. He’s snagged the lead in Franco’s latest literary adaptation, playing Jim Nolan.
It’s a hefty part for Wolff, particularly as it puts him at the head of a cast that also includes Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston, Danny McBride and Franco himself.
Set in a fictionalised valley in California, the story explores themes author John Steinbeck continued to develop: group behaviour, social injustice, man’s inhumanity to man. A labour conflict between migrant apple pickers and the local growers’ association is the backdrop against which Nolan becomes involved in the labour movement and rapidly matures as he learns what it means to do organisational fieldwork.
Franco’s As I Lay Dying collaborator Matt Rager has written the script, adapting the 1936 novel. The cameras should be shooting shortly.
Wolff will be back in Faults author John Green’s territory for this year’s Paper Towns (due August 21), adapted once more from the writer's work. He’ll also be seen in comedy drama Ashby and Nancy Meyers’ latest, The Intern, which arrives on October 2.