Colmubia Pictures IndustiesFresh off his toke-happy turn in Pineapple Express, James Franco is reaching a new level of highness.
The Golden Globe-nominated star is set to play a prince in Universal's medieval-themed comedy Your Highness. Franco will reunite with a couple of Pineapple Express pals, costar Danny McBride and director David Gordon Green, according to Variety.
Your Highness chronicles two haughty princes who go on a quest to save their family and kingdom from the clutches of an evil magician. Filming kicks off in Ireland in July.
Rounding out the day's other top casting action are Steve Carell, Kevin Spacey, Wanda Sykes and Will Arnett...
• Steve Carell is attached to star in Dumped, a Warner Bros. comedy about a man who searches for new meaning in his life after his wife abruptly divorces him.
• Kevin Spacey will headline the indie comedy Father of Invention, playing an inventor turned crazed billionaire who spends eight years in a federal pen when one of his inventions fails horribly. Once sprung, he sets out to rebuild his fame and fortune.
• Wanda Sykes is getting a Saturday night date. Her new talk/variety show be taking over Fox's 11 p.m. time slot vacated by MadTV.
• Will Arnett and Oscar nominee Michael Shannon are joining Warners' big-screen version of the DC Comics western Jonah Hex, per the Hollywood Reporter. The flick stars Josh Brolin as the tough-as-nails bounty hunter Hex, who tracks down a voodoo practitioner (John Malkovich) out to save the Confederacy. Shannon will play the ringleader of a brutal gladiatorial circus, while Arnett will play a Union soldier in cahoots with Hex. Shooting starts in Louisiana this month.