Showbiz411

Okay. A day after it was announced that today’s newly minted Indie Spirit nominee and probable Oscar nominee James Franco is co-hosting the Oscars, here’s the latest from the actor’s never boring career.

It turns out that Franco is very much in the mix to play opposite Nicole Kidman next fall on Broadway in “Sweet Bird of Youth.”

The role of course would be that of Chance Wayne in the Tennessee Williams classic was played on screen by Paul Newman. The last time it was on Broadway, Christopher Walken had the role. That was in 1975.

Nicole, obviously, is taking the Geraldine Page role of Alexandra deLago (Elizabeth Taylor in the TV Movie). It’s her second Broadway play, and Franco’s debut if it all gets ironed out.

In this production, David Cromer is directing. The talks between Franco and producer Scott Rudin have been going on for a while, I am told. But the hitch has been whether the production can do rehearsals late in the day next fall to accommodate Franco’s school schedule. Apparently, Yale gives homework!

No confirmation yet, but it does seem like this is going to happen. Hot ticket? The hottest, I’d say. Kudos to Rudin, too. He’s also got two Oscar-buzzed movies this season, “The Social Network” and “True Grit.”

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.