What James Franco really wants to do is direct. We heard the rumor earlier this month that the 127 HOURS star has his eye on adapting Cormac McCarthy’s brilliant, bloody western BLOOD MERIDIAN and now it appears he aims to fling a little more gore our way with a film based on the real-life monster Richard Ramirez, aka “The Night Stalker”.
Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell is apparently producing the project, which Franco will direct and star in. The film will jump off from Philip Carlo’s 2000 book “The Night Stalker”, which documents Ramirez’ horrific crime and murder spree during 1984 and 85. He was ultimately found guilty of 13 counts of murder, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries. (Head on over HERE to learn more about Ramirez.)
Franco allegedly will commence shooting on the project this summer when he’s on a break from Yale.
Screenwriter Nicolas Constantine said, “Phil Carlo painted such an amazing portrait of Richard Ramirez, the human being, and it’s that which drew us all to the project. Sure, Ramirez was a monster — but Phil investigated how he became that monster, and that’s what this film is about.”
“This isn’t a horror film, nor does it glorify Ramirez in any way… James Franco shares that vision, and we all agree that he is absolutely the one actor, and now director, who can truly do this very intense role and story justice.”
If this project truly gels, we’ll keep you in the loop!
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