*Images courtesy of Agent Bedhead*

Epic thanks to Agent Bedhead for this story, which I hadn’t been following. It’s a really juicy scoop too! According to Agent Bedhead’s sources, Angelina Jolie and James Franco are at the top of a screenwriter’s casting wish list. The project is called The Golden Suicides, and it’s based on the real story of the lives and deaths of artists Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake. The name “The Golden Suicides” comes from the Vanity Fair article written about their deaths (complete VF article here).

The gist of the (true) story is that artists Jeremy and Theresa were a married couple with two successful art careers. Then, sometime around 2004-2005, things started to go off the rails. Their careers began faltering, and they began cutting themselves off from friends and family. Those people who did spend time with Jeremy and Theresa noted that seemed increasingly depressed and paranoid. They blamed their faltering careers on the Church of Scientology, and claimed CoS was harassing them, defaming them, monitoring them and following them. They moved back to New York after spending four years in Los Angeles. Then Theresa committed suicide on July 10, 2006 and her husband followed her on July 17, 2006.

Their paranoia about the Church of Scientology followed them to their grave, and there are several of their friends who think that there might be something else to these suicides. CB (who is more of a CoS conspiracy theorist than me) thinks that CoS isn’t above murder its critics to silence them, and might make the deaths look like “suicide”. All in all, an intriguing story, and one that would make an interesting movie.

Anyway, it’s not like Jolie or Franco have confirmed that they’ll do the film – Agent Bedhead says the script is still being written. Bret Easton Ellis is writing/adapting the story for the screen, and Ellis recently tweeted: “Keep looking at the script…Angelina and Franco for Theresa and Jeremy?…It doesn’t matter…I wrote it for them anyway…I just spaced…” Agent Bedhead and Slashfilm are loving this casting rumor, with Slashfilm writing “Jolie and Franco would be perfect casting for the broken, charismatic couple at the heart of The Golden Suicides, but at this point it sounds like that’s just wishful thinking on the part of Ellis. Hopefully the script is good enough that they’d be interested.” And Bedhead agrees: “Absolutely, these two actors (particularly Jolie) would be excellent at portraying the two eccentric and extremely creative lovers. The fact that Ellis had Jolie in mind automatically gives this project some integrity and credibility that would otherwise be lacking. Furthermore, Theresa would likely be thrilled by the mere thought of it. Too bad she’s not around to, you know, actually see it happen.”

My thoughts? This could be really wonderful with Jolie and Franco. I hope it happens!

Photo of Jeremy and Theresa courtesy of Vanity Fair. Additional image of Jolie/Franco and Jeremy and Theresa courtesy of Agent Bedhead.

This is the new ad for Gucci Pour Homme fragrance starring James Franco, once again. What do you think of a delicious Franco all wet? I think… it needs more nipple. Why didn’t they do it in a white t-shirt? Why isn’t it bigger? Does Gucci smell like “Wet Franco”? By the way, I imagine “Wet Franco” smells mildly better than “wet dog”. Here’s more from People:

Following James Franco’s good-natured spoof of his earlier Gucci Pour Homme fragrance ad campaign on Funny Or Die, the actor is officially back in front of the camera for the Italian luxury brand’s newest scent, Gucci by Gucci SPORT pour Homme.

“James Franco is perfect for this fragrance and perfect for Gucci,” the brand’s creative director, Frida Giannini, tells WWD. “He personifies the sort of nonchalance and unforced appeal that is most attractive in a man. In the advertising campaign, he captures the fragrance’s casual, modern and masculine air.”

Shot by famed fashion photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin in Cannes, France, the new series depicts a very wet and chiseled Franco gazing seductively into the camera after a fully-clothed dip in a pool. The sporty fragrance, a mix of fresh citrus scents and masculine undertones like veviter, is available in stores now with products ranging from a deodorant stick for $27 to a 50 ml spray at $57.

[From People]

Last year, Franco even showed he had a good sense of humor about his Gucci modeling contract, and he did a pretty good Funny or Die spoof-voiceover bit for the actual Gucci commercial. I know it’s old news, but it’s still a funny video:

Oh, Jesus. He’s got a mustache too now! Dammit, very few men can pull off this look and you’re not one of them, Franco!

Gucci ad courtesy of People Magazine.

Spiderman 4 was pushing for a potential summer 2011 release when director Sam Rami dropped out due to creative differences and time constraints. Star Tobey Maguire soon followed, and the studio is going to move forward with the tried and true “reboot” concept and an entirely new cast. Why pay huge star salaries when all you need is some attractive, relatively unknown faces and a concept that appeals to 14 year-old boys? It makes no difference if the film is decent or not as long as stuff gets blown up. Just look at the Transformers movies.

A few days after script issues pushed it off the May 2011 calendar, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today that Spider-Man 4 ain’t gonna happen at all, and that the franchise will eventually reboot featuring Peter Parker as a teenager.

Meaning original principals Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, as well as Spider-Man 1-3 director Sam Raimi, are out.

“We’re very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter’s roots and we look forward to working once again with Marvel Studios, [producers] Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin on this new beginning,” said Sony Pictures cochair Amy Pascal.

“Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me,” added Raimi. “While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job.”

Maguire had told E! News in November that he expected to start shooting his fourth Spidey film in February or March.

There’s no official word as to how exactly the project came unspun, but Raimi had reportedly been unsatisfied about the current state of the screenplay by Alvin Sargent, the third writer brought on by Sony to tackle the storyline.

The Spider-Man saga is currently slated to begin again in summer 2012.

[From E! Online]

The good news is that we won’t have to see Kirsten Dunst reprise her role as the unlikely love interest. There was news that Anne Hathaway might replace her, but it’s doubtful that the studio will go with such a big name. The bad news is that sexy villain James Franco won’t be back. He has a lot of films coming out, including Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts so it’s not like he’s going to fade from view and have to rely on his soap opera career as a backup. Tobey Maguire has three films coming out and a whopping 13 films listed in development. Ten to one he’s relieved that he’ll no longer have to play Peter Parker. It’s a boatload of money, but the guy would surely rather be doing something else.

Franco is shirtless for a split second at :47
Lainey Gossip posted this promo of James Franco’s upcoming guest spot on General Hospital, and it’s cheesy but awesome. Franco plays some kind of artist with a secret penchant for killing his subjects. His character is even called “Franco.” I’m having a hard time understanding exactly what’s going on here, but it’s like murderer vs. murderer. TVSquad sums it up nicely below and guesses what this promo hints at for the show. There are potential speculative General Hospital spoilers in the quoted text below. They also note that ABC is really promoting Franco’s guest spot and that they worked around his schedule.

TVSquad guesses that Franco’s appearance on General Hospital is part of a “project he’s doing with a filmmaker named Carter.” I think they may have the wrong idea, because from what I can tell that project is complete. They seem to be basing that assumption on a question that the Wall St. Journal asked of General Hospital executive producer Jill Farren Phelps. The WSJ asked Phelps “Are you aware of his project ‘Erasing [sic] James Franco’ with the artist Carter?” and she said she wasn’t, and indicated that Franco was professional and hardworking and seemed sincere in his desire to work on the soap. He’s doing just three Fridays of filming in a row to start as he goes to school the rest of the week for his MFA in writing at Columbia. He had to cram in sevens episodes worth of material on his first day, and will be on the show for two months.

“Erased James Franco” is an art project film in which Franco re-enacts some of his past roles, and from what I understand it was completed last year and first screened this spring. There are upcoming screenings, but they list the film as the same length, 63 minutes, as it was listed as this spring, with a completion date of 2008. Unless it’s a work in progress I think TVSquad is wrong and Franco won’t be using his General Hospital material at all. Either way, General Hospital seems thrilled with Franco’s guest spot. If he ends up using some lines from GH in an art film it’s not like he’s punking them and isn’t taking it seriously. It’s likely he’s earnestly trying to hone his craft, and he’s also studying filmmaking at school.

The James Franco experiment has begun on General Hospital. Actually, we have now learned that the movie actor, best known for Spider-Man and Milk and The Pineapple Express, has decided to do a two-month guest role on the ABC soap opera as part of a project he’s doing with a filmmaker named Carter.

Franco and Carter are making a documentary called Erased James Franco. His guest turn on 30 Rock may also be part of the movie. Nobody knows for certain.

One thing I do know for certain is that ABC is taking Franco’s appearance on GH very seriously. They’re working around his schedule, giving him a strangely interesting character to play, and promoting it like mad.

From the look of the promo, someone is going to die. Who? Maxie? Maybe. Sonny and Jason. Doubtful. There’ll be a lot of characters in danger, but who’s going to get it? Who do you think?

Franco’s character is even named Franco. He’s an artist and has a showing in a gallery, but there’s something else going on beneath the surface. He has an ulterior motive which may or may not mean that he’s the person stalking Jason.

They’ve been suggesting that’s the case, but it seems too obvious to me. I’m still holding on to the theory that he’s connected to the Cassadines, which makes more sense than a connection to Alcazar. The last serial killer was linked to Luis Alcazar.

[From TVSquad]

Franco has enthused about the sheer amount of material he had to learn for General Hospital and told NY Magazine that it was different working for a soap because there’s just one take and you have to memorize an immense amount of lines. “It was kind of mind-blowing. I’ve worked one day on it. It’s one day of a few. But I think we packed seven episodes of my material in. They gave me a script for the day that was as thick as a film script and that’s what we planned to shoot in a single day. No ad-libbing. If I needed it, they said they had a TelePrompTer, but the regulars didn’t use it so I didn’t want to use it, either.” He hinted that it wasn’t about just appearing on a soap, though, and “I’ve got other ideas for my participation in this soap opera beyond just being in this soap opera.” I wonder what he means exactly. Maybe that kind of vague statement is part of what led TVSquad to assume he has something up his sleeve. He also asked to play an artist.

Franco will also guest star on “30 Rock” this season as Jane Kraskinski’s love interest. You have to hand it to the guy, he definitely keeps us guessing and he seems to genuinely love acting.

Photos are from ABC via Soapnet

Phenomenal actor James Franco has been making some interesting role choices lately. He’s starred in films like “Milk,” and the “Spiderman” trilogy, and he’s been nominated for Golden Globe, SAG, and Emmy awards. Yet he’s also guest starring on “General Hospital” for two months. And it was HIS idea. According to the producers, James wants to “explore all aspects of his craft” and the intense shooting schedule of a soap seemed like a challenge to him. Okay… I’ll buy that. Only because I can’t think of any other possible reason. And it could also explain him guest starring on “30 Rock” soon, as Jane Krakowski’s love interest.

Ready for the latest twist in the incredibly wild and unpredictable career of one James Franco? Sources confirm to me exclusively that the Spider-Man/Milk actor will follow up his upcoming arc on General Hospital with a guest appearance on 30 Rock.

NBC declined to comment, but a Rock-solid insider tells me that Franco (playing himself) will be involved in a faux romance with Jane Krakowski’s Jenna — a relationship engineered by their respective agents. Sound familiar? It’s probably because this is the storyline Tina Fey floated by me at the Emmys way back in September.

”[Jenna gets] into a high-profile relationship with a movie star that is arranged by their agents,” Fey explained at the time…

Franco is scheduled to start work on his Rock eppy this week.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Guesting on “30 Rock” certainly isn’t strange like guesting on “General Hospital.” But the thing about wanting to explore all areas of his “craft” (I want to throw things when people talk about their “craft”) could definitely explain why James would want to spend a little time on a good sitcom. I mean if the guy’s open to evil twins and doctors with eye patches, it makes sense that he’d want to try a scripted comedy as well. And there are very few traditional sitcoms left on the air, especially once you rule out the family-focused, TGIF sorts.

For the most part I think “30 Rock” does a good job with their guest stars. Last year they got a little too into it and I think they over-promoted Jennifer Aniston’s spot. And frankly Salma Hayek’s acting was so bad that I couldn’t watch her episodes. But they did a funny job with a brief Oprah cameo, and Mad Men’s Jon Hamm was fantastic is Tina Fey’s as-dumb-as-he-is-handsome boyfriend. James strikes me as the sort who won’t require a lot of tending to his vanity and will focus more on his character than getting a lot of attention.

Here’s James Franco attending Fashion Group International’s 26th annual Night of Stars at Cipriani, Wall Street in New York on October 22d. Images thanks to Fame Pictures . Header photo is James’ first photo from “General Hospital” – thanks to Soapnet.

Gerard & Kristen Wiig spoof “Beauty & the Beast”

Gerard & Seth Meyers on “Weekend Update”:

I was expecting Gerard Butler’s hosting gig on Saturday Night Live to be like Christmas. I am, after all, a total Butlerholic, a Gerard-loonie, a complete addict for anything involving my favorite Scotsman. I had been counting down the days, hours and minutes until Gerry appeared. Now… it’s not that I was really disappointed. But I was surprised at just how cheesy and silly Gerard was as host.

I give him credit for being game for anything and for doing an okay job with all of the accents he had to do (sort of – he basically just did his own Scottish accent and a couple of American accents, but it might be hard for him). But I don’t think I ever realized just how dorky he is. He’s dorky in the same way Hugh Jackman is dorky – Gerard came across like a musical theater geek, a guy who wants to be a showman, a guy who will do anything for a laugh. It’s a great, funny, interesting quality to have. I just thought Gerard was a lot “cooler” than that. I was wrong. He’s totally dorky. Still hot. Just more accessible, I think.

It didn’t help that the first skit of the night was pretty much the weakest. Nothing about “Obama and health care” really screams “broad comedy” to me, and apparently the SNL writers couldn’t find anything funny about it either. The Rock Obama fell flat, and I was already praying for the show to be over. I didn’t really care for Gerard’s opening monologue either, except Kristen Wiig telling Gerard to take off his shirt. Speaking of Wiig, why was she in nearly every skit? It was weird. I like her and everything, but I wanted more Gerard.

But I did like several of the skits – they didn’t have me rolling around in tears, but I chuckled at some. I enjoyed “Daveheart”, especially when Gerard screamed in terror when he saw the goat (“I thought it was a dragon”). The 300 “Don’t ask, don’t tell” skit was mildly amusing, but my favorite sight-gag barely got a chuckle from the audience. I loved when King Leonidas was told “Forty percent of Sparta doesn’t believe you were born in Greece.” Leonidas pulls out his “birth certificate” on a stone tablet. Gerard’s appearance on Weekend Update was also funny, but Seth Meyers was the one with all of the funny lines. Great joke about prostitutes, especially given the blind item that many think is about Gerard and working girls.

Here’s one question I have – is Gerard Butler dating James Franco? For the first three episodes of SNL, the host’s significant other came on for a “cameo” in at least one skit. For Megan Fox, Brian Austin Green showed up. For Ryan Reynolds, Scarlett Johansson came on. With Drew Barrymore, Justin Long did his best Matthew McConaughey. But Gerard doesn’t have a significant other to show off… or does he? James Franco showed up in that weird “What Up With That?” skit and didn’t even get to say a word. Now, I’m not objective enough about Gerard to really have any kind of gaydar about him, but the Franco-Butler hookup theory is an interesting one, isn’t it?

Considering everyone seems to love to hate Saturday Night Live this season, I’m assuming I was alone in even my mild amusement. Still, when you judge the show, don’t judge my Gerry too harshly – he did the best he could!

Photos below courtesy NBC

Dude, I think James Franco got high and forgot he’s a damn movie star. In the weirdest, most amazing what-the-hell news today, James Franco has signed on for a temporary role on ABC’s General Hospital. It’s not just one guest appearance either – he’s going to be playing a “mystery person” for nearly two months! What. The. Hell?

James Franco will guest star on ABC’s “General Hospital” for a lengthy story arc this fall.

The “Pineapple Express” and “Spider-Man” actor will play a mystery person who comes to the soap opera’s town of Port Charles. The recurring role will begin Nov. 20 – to coincide with November sweeps – and will last about two months.

Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps says it’s “an honor that an actor of Franco’s caliber would choose to spend some of his valuable time in Port Charles.”

The 31-year-old Franco will star as Allen Ginsberg next year in the film “Howl.”

[From Huffington Post]

Maybe I’m being snobby and elitist (true story), but I really think James is totally above a character arc on a soap opera. Yes, it’s a funny, kitschy career move that will probably introduce him to a new fan base. But he’s a movie star, for goodness sake! He’s got no fewer than four films coming out next year, including the highly anticipated Howl, in which James plays poet Allen Ginsberg. He’s also filming a supporting part in Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts – he’s playing David, the guy Elizabeth Gilbert moved in with right after her marriage ended. Perhaps working with Julia turned James off of acting in films? If so, Julia will have a lot of explaining to do.

Over the past year, I’ve been paying more attention to James, and that boy has really started to grow on me. Before, if I ever thought about him at all, I had him pegged for some kind of trendy poseur. But this past year, I saw his two completely underrated performances from 2008 – one a brilliant comedic turn as the sweet stoner/drug-dealer Saul in Pineapple Express, the other as Harvey Milk’s soulful lover, a genuine and unaffected supporting performance in Milk, for which James was robbed of an Oscar nomination (he ended up with a Golden Globe nomination, and he won an Independent Spirit Award and a Critics Choice). I honestly and truly don’t know what would possess an actor of James’s caliber to do a soap opera stint, but bless his heart. When he finds out what he signed on for, it’s going to kill his buzz.

Here’s James filming “Eat, Pray, Love” on August 4th. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .

In the wake of a rather embarrassing photo of “Spiderman” actor James Franco sleeping during one of his classes at Columbia University, seniors at UCLA are starting a Facebook-based campaign protesting their school’s decision to have Franco serve as this year’s graduation speaker. Though the actor is a UCLA alum and has been enjoying a successful career while attending Columbia, the UCLA students feel he is not an appropriate choice to address the class as they embark into adulthood.

When James Franco wakes up from his mid-lecture nap at Columbia, he’ll find out he’s been selected to speak at the upcoming UCLA graduation ceremony — and some of the students couldn’t be more pissed off!!

Some bitter Bruins launched the “UCLA Students Against James Franco as Commencement Speaker” group on Facebook, attacking the actor’s “wisdom” — or lack thereof — because he only graduated from the school last year.

The group, already 210 members strong, states “Clearly, this is ridiculous. Anyone who has been in his classes knows he is an average student.” They also claim Franco lacks “the wisdom and perspective such a speaker is meant to provide the graduates.”

At the end of their digi-rant, the group does throw Franco a bone, saying “He is a very talented actor, and clearly did well enough at UCLA to get into Columbia. We merely protest that he is not an appropriate choice for our graduation speaker.”

We didn’t call Franco for comment, because we didn’t want to wake him up.

[From TMZ]

What difference does it make how long ago someone graduated? Since leaving UCLA, the guy isn’t doing too shabby – he starred in all three Spiderman movies – one of the most commercially successful superhero franchises of all time. He co-starred with Sean Penn in the Oscar-nominated “Milk.” He also got to be very, very funny in the hit comedy “Pineapple Express.” Clearly, the kid is doing something right, even if he hasn’t been out of school for long. Maybe he doesn’t have the life and business experience of someone like Bill Gates, but I’d certainly be interested in any advice he could give me if I were about to leave college. As for his falling asleep in class…well, all I can say is, been there, done that. I was just lucky enough not to have my picture taken when it happened.

Above, James Franco laughs at Jon Stewart during the Academy Awards. Below, Franco accepts an Independent Spirit Award for his work in “Milk.” Photos: WENN.

Despite what Oprah says, experts claim America is a nation of non-readers. American adults read fewer and fewer books each year. Oprah even admits that the episodes that she devotes to her book club are some of the lowest-rated episodes of the year. That’s how much Americans hate books – we don’t even want to see Oprah talk about a book.

Personally, I’ve always been a big reader. It was how I was raised. My library card is worn to the nub and there’s nothing I love more than curling up in bed with a good biography, detective story or Pulitzer-Prize winning novel. One of my biggest reading pleasures are collections of essays and/or short stories. Essaying is a dying art, and few great writers have the will power to be a great short story writer.

James Franco, Independent Spirit Award-winning actor of Milk, is trying to become one of my new favorite authors. He’s just signed on to write a collection of short stories for Simon & Schuster. Contact Music has more:

‘Milk’ star James Franco is taking his creative writing hobby seriously – he has secured a deal to release a collection of short stories.

The 30-year-old actor is currently enrolled on a creative writing graduate course at Columbia University in New York.

And now the star is set to become an author after selling his book to publishers Simon & Schuster, his agent confirms to Fox News.

Publishing appears to run in the Franco family – his mother Betsy is a bestselling children’s author.

From Contact Music

Unlike someone like Ethan Hawke, I actually think Franco’s writing might be more than a vanity project and a douchey attempt to look “deep” while picking up random waitresses. Franco used to strike me as one of those “too cool for school” kinds of guys, annoyingly vapid. But he’s grown on me. He’s a talented actor, and I bet he takes his writing seriously. Fingers crossed.

James Franco is shown on 2/21/09 at the Independent Spirit Awards. Thanks to WENN.

Sean Penn stars with James Franco and Josh Brolin in Milk, a biopic about the first openly gay man elected to office in San Francisco. Harvey Milk served as the city supervisor in late 1970s San Francisco and campaigned for gay rights. Penn stars as the title character in the film and James Franco is his lover.

Penn’s co-star James Franco said in an interview with Out Magazine that the first person Penn told about his first experience kissing a man, which was supposedly with Franco on the set of the film, was his ex wife Madonna. He claims Penn sent Madonna a text message about the experience and mentioned he thought she might be interested. Madonna and Penn were married for four turbulent years nearly twenty years ago, from 1985 to 1989.

Sean Penn’s “Milk” costar James Franco has further dished about the pair’s lengthy on-screen kiss. Franco told Out magazine, “After our [on-screen] kiss, Sean texted Madonna – his ex-wife, Madonna – and said, ‘I just popped my cherry kissing a guy. I thought of you. I don’t know why‘ . . . There’s a scene in the pool and everybody else is dressed and there’s just something uncomfortable about that.”

[From Huffington Post]

The Huffington Post also reminds us of Franco’s remarks about kissing Penn. He described how it took about a minute to film and that it felt like a long time. He said he thought “Oh, my God, I’m kissing Spicoli.”

Franco said in another interview (link leads to video) about his kiss with Penn that “It was amazing, I got to make out with him a few times… it was great.”

What surprises me about this story is that Penn is still in touch with Madonna after nearly twenty years. You would assume those two don’t communicate at all, but he supposedly has her current cell phone number and occasionally contacts her. Who knew?

Here’s the trailer for Milk, which looks Oscar-worthy, incredibly moving and inspirational. The film is out in limited release in the US starting on November 26th.