Caligula director wants to make a 3-D porno?

WTF? Are we about to see dueling 3-D porn films?

Italian filmmaker Tinto Brass, best known for the weird and abysmal 1979 film CALIGULA, indicates that he wants to redo it but this time in 3-D, a technology he feels is now right for shooting an erotic film. Brass tells THR: “[I plan to] revisit an abandoned project about a Roman emperor that was ruined by Americans, and go from there.” It would also be marked as the first 3-D film of any kind made in Italy.

CALIGULA (which starred Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirrem, Peter O’Toole, and John Gielgud) has kind of an interesting production history. The film was originally written by noted writer Gore Vidal who wanted to simply make a modest historical drama about the titular Roman Emperor. Shit essentially hit the fan, however, when Vidal turned to Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse Magazine, to finance the film. He brought in director Tinto Brass, who himself had made pretty much nothing but “erotic” films. Long story short, Guccione wound up taking over the whole project, and most notably, added about five or six minutes of hardcore sex. Ironically (though maybe not surprisingly), the film became Tinto’s most successful work in America. There are a bunch of cuts of the film, most of which doing what they can to get around the sex. However, if you ever felt so inclined, you can find bits and pieces of said footage on the internet. Internet: Fighting the good fight.

Brass is set on figuring out the script and casting as soon as possible. He hopes to start filming in May or June. Gaspar Noe, watch out!