Guys, sit down, because we're not sure you're going to be able to handle this. James Franco has made an art project. No, seriously. But kidding aside, it still seems like not a film festival can go by without Franco showing up with cannisters under his arm, and indeed, he'll be at the Sundance Film Festival for something that is truly…Franco-ian.
As was reported over the summer, Franco has teamed with avant-garde gay porn director Travis Mathews for "Interior. Leather Bar." which certainly doesn't shy away from its title. The project reportedly began with Franco wanting to remake William Friedkin's "Crusing" (which involves Al Pacino as a cop delving into the gay S&M underground scene to track down a serial killer), but he was unable to get the rights. So instead, he sought out Mathews, whose earlier films like "I Want Your Love" have featured explicit sexual scenes, to co-direct a film that would focus on a recreation of the 40 minutes that were cut out of the original film (and have since been destroyed), as well as being "an examination of people trying to make sense of Franco as star figure."
The result? Well, check out the trailer. It certainly has the kind of meta-ness we'd expect from Franco, along with seemingly frank discussions about depictions of sexuality. It kind of feels like a college class we went to once. It seems to be one of those "porn or art?" deals but we'll find out soon enough. "Interior. Leather Bar." lands in Park City next month. Watch below (probably NSFW). [IndieWire]
