You ever wonder who could play you in a movie about your life? I’d probably end up with fucking Artie Lange, assuming he doesn’t die first. I’d never be so lucky as to get a James Franco. Never.
But that dopey guy who had to cut off his own arm after a hiking accident gets the honor of having Franco play him. The actor has signed on to Danny Boyle’s next film, 127 Hours, which is based on the memoir of Aron Ralston. Ralston spent five days with his arm pinned under a boulder until he finally hacked it off and found help.
I’m interested in what Boyle and his Slumdog Millionaire write Simon Beaufoy find fascinating in this story; I watched Ralston’s story on Dateline NBC a few years back out of basic sick curiosity. Generally this sounds like a tale for third tier cable, like TruTV or that show I Shouldn’t Be Alive; but Boyle’s a damn smart filmmaker, so there’s an angle here that has caught him. He also thinks it’s an Oscar picture, as the film is aimed at a late 2010 release.
Shooting starts in March in Utah. Let’s see how committed Franco really is to his craft – if he doesn’t cut off his arm we’ll know he’s a big phony after all.
That’s a joke, by the way.