James Franco isn’t content to offer up adaptations of William Faulkner novels and cook up “lost” footage from notorious films like “Cruising.” He’s going deeper into the pop culture bin with his latest directorial effort, “Sal.”
The film centers on Sal Mineo, and checks in on the gay star of such films as “Rebel Without a Cause” and “Exodus” after his career in Hollywood was in ruins. “Sal” focuses on Mineo’s final days before his brutal murder in 1976 while he was dreaming of a comeback and playing a bisexual burglar in a stage show called “P.S. Your Cat Is Dead.”
Also read: James Franco Messes With Jason Statham’s Little Girl in ‘Homefront’ Trailer (Video)
Franco is nothing if not prolific. In addition to directing “As I Lay Dying” and “Interior. Leather Bar,” the Oscar-nominee has appeared in such films as “Spring Breakers,” “This is the End,” and “Oz: The Great and Powerful” — projects that would seem to have very little cross-over audience.
Also read: James Franco Doesn’t Care If People Think He’s Gay: ‘I Mean I Wish I Was’
“Sal” stars Val Lauren as Mineo and Franco in a supporting role. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2011, but the market being what it is for biopics about half-forgotten movie stars, it’s been kicking around for two years waiting for release. It will debut on VOD on October 22, before opening in select theaters on November 1.
Watch the trailer: