Yes, its yet another project linked to James Franco who seems to be spending his time between classes, just calling up producers in Hollywood and chatting with them about projects that pique his curiosity.
Deadline reports that the actor is in talks to play pornographer Chuck Traynor in a biopic of “Deep Throat” pornstar Linda Lovelace that will find him reunited with “Howl” directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The project has a script from W. Merritt Johnson (“In Treatment,” “Temple Grandin“) and is based on the very slim, and seemingly out of print/hard to get book “The Complete Linda Lovelace” by Eric Danville. Traynor was Lovelace’s husband during her porn years but once she retired from biz she accused him of coercing her into pornography and prostitution with physical violence and even hypnosis. And depending on who you ask, its either totally true or completely ridiculous. So who will play the pornstar herself? An offer is currently out to rosy cheeked Kate Hudson but obviously, there are some big barriers in the way of this happening anytime soon with that casting. James Franco is attached to too many projects to recount here and is set to hit Broadway this fall with Nicole Kidman in “Sweet Bird.” As for Hudson, she’s pregnant and we can’t imagine this film will lens until after she has the baby. And of course, this isn’t the only Linda Lovelace film in the works.
Malin Akerman is currently attached to “Inferno,” taking over from Lindsay Lohan who was formerly attached to the long-gestating pic. That film is set to be directed by Matthew Wilder who wrote his 2008 Black List approved script based off Lovelace’s own autobiography, “Ordeal.”
Both films are apparently struggling to find financing and no surprise there. With parents groups currently up in arms over MTV‘s “Skins,” we’re sure that studios aren’t particularly keen on jumping in headfirst into the biopic of a porn star who had a very unique talent. The script for “Inferno” was said to be very graphic with “child abuse, three orgasms, two beatings, intense humiliation and a bloody car crash” all happening in the first thirty-two pages of the script. So we’re not gonna hold our breath that either of these projects will be moving quickly to the screen any time soon.
