Ridley Scott has been attempting to make Blood Meridian for years, however due to his intent to stay faithful to the gratuitous violence of the novel, studios have been reluctant to green light the project
In July of 2014, James Franco posted a 30 minute test reel rough edit of a sequence from the novel online. The sequence depicts Tobin's narration to the Kid about the gang meeting the Judge in the desert, who then helped them improvise gun powder to fend off an Apache war party. The test stars 'Mark Pellegrino' as the Judge, Dave Franco as the Kid, 'Scott Glenn' as Tobin and 'Luke Perry' as Glanton.
McCarthy's Blood Meridian the novel was not well received upon its publication, but after years of public exposure it gradually developed into a celebrated classic.
In late 2016 development began with James Franco slated to direct. He had previously expressed great interest in adapting the screenplay. As of early 2017 he is no longer attached leading to speculation that studios may be trying to tempt Ridley Scott back. Scott was trying to generate interest in the script for years, but due to the extreme violence studios were reluctant to greenlight his version that would stay faithful to the gratuity of the source novel
James Franco was about to begin production with Russell Crowe attached when it transpired that he had not properly acquired the rights to the book.