UTAH — “Interior. Leather Bar,” a gay short produced by James Franco and based on lost footage from William Friedkin's "Cruising," will screen as part of the New Frontier showcase at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
The film, produced by Franco through his production company Rabbit Bandini, is directed by Travis Mathews and features scenes of real, non-simulated gay sex.
Friedkin's "Cruising" is set in 1980's New York and follows an emotionally unstable cop (Al Pacino) as he infiltrates the city's gay BDSM underground to search for a serial killer targeting homosexual men.
The film received an X-rating from the MPAA for its graphic content and Friedkin was forced to cut 40-minutes from the film to score an R-rating. The edited footage was later lost by Warner Bros.
Mathews, a gay documentarian who made his feature film debut this year with "I Want Your Love," a relationship drama produced by gay adult VOD provider NakedSword, sold Franco on the idea of recreating Friedkin's lost footage.
The 2013 Sundance Film Festival takes place Jan. 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance.