LOS ANGELES — Actor James Franco is set to produce and star in a film based on acclaimed director William Friedkin's "Cruising," a controversial thriller about an undercover cop investigating the serial murders of gay men in 1980's New York.
The film starred Al Pacino as an emotionally unstable cop sent to infiltrate the city's gay BDSM underground in an attempt to find the homicidal maniac killing homosexual men and discarding their body parts in the Hudson River.
The film received an X-rating from the MPAA for its graphic content. Friedkin was forced to cut 40-minutes from the film to score an R-rating. The edited footage was later lost by Warner Bros.
Franco, who was unable to secure the rights to remake the film, has now tapped gay filmmaker Travis Mathews to direct "James Franco's Cruising," a re-imagining of the movie's lost scenes that, according to Mathews, will include actual, non-simulated gay sex scenes.
"He knew he wanted real gay sex in it," Mathews told IndieWire.com. "His people went looking for a filmmaker who had filmed real gay sex, and I suspect someone who would complement his vision."
Mathews, whose credits include a handful of gay documentaries, came to Franco's attention while his narrative film debut "I Want Your Love," a relationship drama produced by gay adult VOD provider NakedSword, played movie festivals.
"James Franco's Cruising" is slated for a 2013 release.
