Oscar nominees Franco and Kidman team up on Broadway

James Franco, an Oscar nominee for Best Actor in
127 Hours, and Nicole Kidman, who is also up for a Oscar for Best Actress in
Rabbit Hole, will take a break from films to act together on stage in New York City in the fall.

According to MTV News, Franco will make his Broadway debut co-starring with Kidman in the second revival of Tennessee Williams' 1959 drama Sweet Bird of Youth.

Franco will play Chance Wayne, the younger lover of a movie star. The character was originally played by Paul Newman in the staged production as well as the 1962 film. Christopher Walken also performed the role on Broadway in 1976.

David Cromer will direct; the producer will be Scott Rudin, who recently won the Golden Globe for The Social Network.

Kidman performed previously on Broadway in The Blue Room in 1998, playing five characters in David Hare's update of La Ronde.

Franco will be seen in Rise of the Apes, the reboot of Planet of the Apes, with Freida Pinto and Andy Serkis, due out in November. His other films include Maladies with Catherine Keener and The Broken Tower, which he will direct and in which he'll also portray poet Hart Crane; he'll also direct and play serial killer Richard Ramirez in The Night Stalker.

Kidman will be seen in the Adam Sandler comedy Just Go With It opening February 11, the thriller Tresspass with Nicolas Cage and Hemingway and Gellhorn with Clive Owen.

RC