James Franco is one of the busiest – and weirdest – movie stars out there. I can’t think of many other actors who have been in a big tentpole trilogy (as Harry Osborne in Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man films), guest-starred as a slightly-perverted version of himself on a sitcom (he had a three-way with Tina Fey‘s Liz Lemon and a Japanese body pillow on 30 Rock), and has appeared on a soap opera (Franco is returning to General Hospital for a five-day run in February 2011 as psychopathic artist Franco), all while pursuing a PhD at Yale.
Now we have a couple of new projects for the actor, who is prepping his feature directing debut, The Broken Tower about poet Hart Crane. According to Napiers News, Franco is looking to direct and star in a film about the infamous Los Angeles serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka “The Night Stalker.” Ramirez was a self-confessed Satanist who in 1985 was convicted of thirteen murders, five attempted murders, eleven sexual assaults and fourteen burglaries. Screenwriter Nicholas Constantine, who will adapt Philip Carlo‘s nonfiction book about the killer, had this to say to the New York Post regarding Franco’s involvement:
I had no idea if he would do it… since it’s pretty dark subject matter. They told me he was studying to be a director and this was perfect for him. We watched three short films he made, two of which were dark and one of which was about a serial killer. That confirmed James definitely had this dark side, and it definitely sealed the deal for us. Sure enough, James read the material and responded to it immediately.
And that’s not all! Franco’s actor brother Dave Franco, (Charlie St. Cloud, Greenberg) recently told MTV [via FirstShowing.net] about a project involving the entire Franco clan:
“There’s also a feature film that I’m writing for my brother and I to star in, where we play versions of ourselves named Davie and James. Without giving away too much, it all takes place around Thanksgiving and Christmas break around our hometown of Palo Alto [California]. Our real family will be in it, my real friends from home will be in it, and the vibe of it is going to be an extended version of our Funny or Die videos. It’s going to be difficult for me, because it’s now a 90-minute version of him giving me shit and making fun of me.”
You can see Dave and James in a series of rather hysterical Funny or Die skits offering some valuable acting tips.
So, to sum up, James Franco is a busy, busy man. He’s currently in the Oscar race (and will co-host this year’s awards telecast) for his role as trapped hiker Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle‘s 127 Hours, and recently announced a spate of wildly ambitious projects – directing adaptations of a pair of classic American novels: Cormac McCarthy‘s Blood Meridian and William Faulkner‘s As I Lay Dying.
It’s definitely inspiring to see an A-lister like Franco willing to stretch himself into a variety of experiments, even if some of them never come to fruition. I can’t imagine a Night Stalker movie matching the quality of David Fincher‘s brilliant Zodiac, but it would be a fascination rabbit-hole for Franco to explore. Let’s hope his directing ambitions pan out.
What do you think of James Franco’s wild ambitions? Which of these projects are you excited about?