Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) has landed the lead in James Franco’s adaptation of the 1936 John Steinbeck novel In Dubious Battle. He joins an already stellar cast including Franco, Selena Gomez (Rudderless), Danny McBride (TV’s Eastbound and Down), Ed Harris (A Beautiful Mind), Bryan Cranston (TV’s Breaking Bad), and Robert Duvall (Apocalypse Now). Wolff will play Jim Nolan, an activist for “The Party,” who organizes an apple pickers’ strike in 1930s California.
As previously reported on our site, Franco, who will be acting, directing, and producing, has surrounded himself with familiar faces for the project, namely Gomez (Spring Breakers) and McBride (Pineapple Express, This is The End), as well as script adapter Matt Rager (As I Lay Dying). Wolff’s involvement continues the pattern, as he previously starred alongside Franco in Palo Alto, and with Gomez in the teen comedy Behaving Badly.
This will also be Wolff’s second film with Fox and Temple Hill Productions after his supporting role in last year’s adaptation of John Green’s novel The Fault in Our Stars. The young actor is quickly becoming a box-office draw. After the success of TFIOS, Wolff landed his own leading role in another Green adaptation, Paper Towns, which is due in theaters on July 24. He will also be starring opposite Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) and Emma Roberts (another Palo Alto star) in Ashby, which will premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.