If today’s bits of James Franco-related news don’t prove that he’s a Renaissance man, well then…he probably isn’t, though not for lack of trying. First, the quadruple multi-hyphenate released a clip of the audiobook of Slaughterhouse-Five he recorded on Audible, and now comes word that he’s finishing up a movie in which he plays an aspiring porn kingpin. (You can’t tell us that skin flicks don’t have a place somewhere in the humanities). According to Deadline, Franco has just wrapped filming on King Cobra, a drama about a porn-industry murder that co-stars Christian Slater and Garrett Clayton (The Fosters).
Slater leads the film as Stephen, a porn producer locked in a professional rivalry with Joe (Franco), an escort-turned-producer who has a temper. Things get really nasty between the two men after Stephen discovers a sexy new star in Brent Corrigan (Clayton). Joe will stop at nothing to steal Brent away from Stephen—as a client, as far as we can tell—which leads to someone getting offed. The film was inspired by the real-life murder of Bryan Kocis, owner of the Cobra Video film company, who discovered actor Sean Paul Lockhart who used the porn alias “Brent Corrigan” in real life.
King Cobra reunited Franco with I Am Michael director Justin Kelly, and also stars Alicia Silverstone and Molly Ringwald. No release date has been set for the film, but we’re sure Franco will be impartial when it comes time to review it.