HBO announced Thursday that it has picked up two more dramas from David Simon ahead of the premiere of his latest, Show Me a Hero, which debuts Sunday, August 16. The first is The Deuce: It’s set to star James Franco as — get this — twins with ties to the mob who vie for control of New York’s porn industry in the ’70s. Breaking Bad’s Michelle MacLaren, who exited the Wonder Woman movie earlier this year, will direct the period drama.
As previously reported, the series will follow the Jamesy twins as they navigate Times Square’s porn industry from its early days of debauchery and corruption and into the legalization and mainstream popularity of the ’80s. Simon’s second series, a political drama, is currently untitled, but it’ll be set in present-day Capitol Hill and examine the “partisanship and the influence of money on national governance.â€
The Deuce is scheduled to go into production first, though not until Franco has wrapped Hulu’s limited series based on Stephen King’s 11/22/63. After that, how will he prepare for his dual role? He could start by trading notes with lil’ bro, Dave, who has strangely also played double duty — in his case, fucking himself for Funny or Die.