Happy Monday! With filming underway on Lovelace, one of two competing biopics about ’70s porn actress turned anti-porn advocate Linda Lovelace, the New York Times has a look at a faux-vintage poster featuring Amanda Seyfried as the XXX starlet in her star-making 1972 skin flick, Deep Throat.
Lovelace’s life story, as we’ve touched on before, is a very dark one; after rising in the porn ranks, Lovelace broke off and accused husband Chuck Traynor of abuse and forcing her into sex acts and prostitution. The NYT profile addresses the darkness of Lovelace’s tale, curiously enough, as an element producer Heidi Jo Markel and Co. wanted to balance out with levity; it also highlights the link and difference in approach between Markel and rival Lovelace project Inferno, which Markel was once helping to develop.
But first things first: Before the Lovelace war really heats up, and until we see just how directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman pull off their version of things (check out the James Franco-as-Hugh Hefner propositioning Lovelace anecdote at the end for a taste), let’s take a closer look at Seyfried as the porn icon. Is Seyfried in period pose untangling your tingle?
• ’70s Sex Star Fascinates a New Era [NYT]
Full Story »I can kind of see a resemblance between Demi Moore and feminist activist/journalist Gloria Steinem, whom the former Mrs. Kutcher has been tapped to play in Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s Lovelace. But at this point the porn biopic — the one starring Amanda Seyfried as Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace, to feature a cameo by James Franco as Hugh Hefner — feels like it’s turning into a bizarrely distracting hit parade-sideshow of stars/names playing real life Lovelace acquaintances. (Further evidence, just announced over the wires: Eric Roberts as… lie detector test administrator Nat Laurendi! For reals.)
According to a press release, Moore, Roberts, and Adam Brody are the latest cast members to join Lovelace, with Moore’s Steinem turn described by Variety’s Jeff Sneider as just a cameo-length role. Brody, meanwhile, will play porn actor Harry Reems, who co-starred as the doctor diagnosing Lovelace’s unusual condition in the 1972 XXX flick Deep Throat. Raise your hand if you’re ready to see the guy from The O.C. with a porn ’stache. (*crickets…*)
The popularity of Deep Throat and its crazy, mob-financed backstory notwithstanding, Lovelace’s life is rife with rough drama: Her entry into the porn business under the thumb of abusive husband Chuck Traynor (portrayed in Lovelace by the ultimate guy you can’t trust in movies, Peter Sarsgaard), her later claims that he forced her into prostitution and unwilling sex acts under pain of violence, including in scenes of Deep Throat, and her eventual foray into the anti-porn movement with supporters like Steinem.
Based on Eric Danville’s 2011 book The Complete Linda Lovelace, the film’s supporting cast already includes Franco, Sharon Stone, Juno Temple, Wes Bentley, Bobby…
Full Story »Lovelace, the Linda Lovelace biopic that both Olivia Wilde and Kate Hudson were rumored to topline (as opposed to the other Lovelace biopic, which traded in Lindsay Lohan for Malin Akerman), may have new leads in Amanda Seyfried and Peter Sarsgaard. The legendary porn actress Lovelace would mark a shift for the In Time/Mean Girls star, and Sarsgaard’s potential role as her husband/pimp Chuck Traynor is just as dramatic a turn. Can we just agree to make this thing and stop recasting it for the next five years? Thanks. [Variety]
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According to ScreenDaily, Matt Dillon has been cast opposite Malin Akerman in Matthew Wilder’s Inferno, one of the two dueling Linda Lovelace projects currently in development. He’ll play Chuck Traynor, the abusive husband of Lovelace who allegedly forced her into porn. James Franco is in discussions to play the same role in the other Lovelace project, fittingly titled Lovelace. [ScreenDaily]
Asteroids, ants, volcanoes, Truman Capote, screw buddies. Often times, high-concept Hollywood ideas come in pairs. Which is why it should come as little surprise that there are two Linda Lovelace biopics in the works, though whether either will hit theaters is certainly up for debate. Ahead, a brief guide to help you tell these in-development films apart.
Inferno
Cast: The Google-prone Malin Akerman as Lovelace (previously Lindsay Lohan)
Director: Matthew Wilder
What’s the story?: The much-publicized (thanks to Lohan) Inferno actually doesn’t even have financing yet. Not that Wilder is concerned. He wrote in an email to the Los Angeles Times that “he and the film’s producers are making a deal with Louisiana-based investors that they hope to have closed soon.” If that happens, the next step is further casting — specifically, the role of Lovelace’s abusive ex-husband, Chuck Traynor.
Will it happen?: Maybe. Wilder has put too much effort in Inferno for it not to happen. Plus, the film has enjoyed over a year of free press before it has even started significantly filming. You can’t buy that kind of publicity!
Lovelace
Cast: Kate Hudson and James Franco are both rumored.
Directors: Jeffrey Friedman and Robert Epstein (Howl)
What’s the story?: Like Inferno, Lovelace isn’t a sure thing. “I’m pretty optimistic about [the fate of the project] today,” co-director Friedman told the Los Angeles Times, “but that does change by the day.” If it goes into production, however, expect Lovelace to focus…
