The number of projects that James Franco is signing on to borders on parody. In addition to trying to get a graduate degree at Yale, Franco has signed on to write, director and/or star in no less than nine projects. Now I'm beginning to think that there's something wrong with him mentally.

THR reports that Franco is now the frontrunner to star in Sam Raimi's Oz, the Great and Powerful. It was just two weeks ago that Robert Downey Jr., another actor with an airtight schedule, was forced to drop the movie, at which time it was rumored that Johnny Depp would be stepping into his place. According to the new report, Depp actually took meetings about the role, but decided that it wasn't for him. Franco, of course, has plenty of experience working with Raimi, having starred in all three of his Spider-Man movies as Harry Osborn. In the film, a prequel of sorts to The Wizard of Oz, would see Franco play the Wizard as an expert con man who, after a ballooning accident, lands in the magical land of Oz. Starting up a relationship with Good Witch Glinda, they hatch a plan to get rid of her two evil sisters. While there is no start date just yet, the plan is to start filming in the latter half of this year.

While I can definitely see Franco playing this role, I really am afraid that the guy is spreading himself too thin. The guy is immensely talented, but if he keeps working at this pace he's going to burn out before he turns 40. Perhaps if he does decide to sign on to this one, he'll decide to postpone one of the others.