casting

James Franco Takes Stephen Elliott’s Cherry

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/2011 Getty Images
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/2011 Getty Images

We admit it: We’re still a little bummed that James Franco dropped out of Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young a few months ago owing to scheduling conflicts. At the time, it made sense (is there any man on earth more overscheduled than James Franco?), but since then, Franco has committed himself to roughly 2 million other projects shooting this year, and he just added yet another film to his schedule — Stephen Elliott’s directorial debut, Cherry. Elliott is best known for writing The Adderall Diaries, a book Franco has optioned to direct, but here Elliott has cast the actor as a coke-addicted lawyer who assists a teenage girl in entering the world of porn. Dev Patel, Lili Taylor, and Heather Graham will co-star, the latter as a porn actress turned director — Rollergirl made something of herself! [Showblitz/Variety]

James Franco Takes Stephen Elliott’s Cherry