James Franco, Chris O’Dowd to star in Broadway's “Of Mice and Men”

He and Chris O'Dowd will make their Broadway debuts next year as unlikely friends in a stage adaptation of "Of Mice and Men."

Producer David Binder said Tuesday that Franco ("Oz the Great and Powerful," "127 Hours," "Milk") will play George, and Irish actor and "Bridesmaids" star O'Dowd will play Lennie in the revival, which starts performances in March at the Longacre Theatre. Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro will direct.

The story by John Steinbeck centers on two migrant field workers in California during the Great Depression -- the big-dreaming George and the mentally challenged Lennie. It has not been seen on Broadway in 40 years.