JAMES FRANCO is in negotiations to direct “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN” at Focus Features.

The project is based on a 2011 book by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales that offered an exhaustive chronicle of the birth of the now ubiquitous sports network, told through some 500 interviews with current and former staffers.

Although Franco sometimes appears in the movies he directs, he is not expected to take a role in “Those Guys Have All the Fun.”

Franco, who has stayed just as busy as a director as an actor in recent years, most recently starred in and produced the critically acclaimed film “The Disaster Artist.” However, he has been quiet on the deals front since facing allegations of sexual misconduct that was uncovered by the Los Angeles Times, charges he denied.

Although he is reading for the second season of his HBO series “The Deuce,” a period look at the porn industry, “Those Guys Have All the Fun” would mark his first high-profile deal since Franco was swept up in the #MeToo movement and would bode well for his future career prospects, which seemed shaky just months ago when he was snubbed for a best actor Oscar nomination.

(SD-Agencies)