Dream Team on Allen Ginsberg Biopic
September 9, 2008 by Jane Boursaw
David Strathairn, Alan Alda, Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Paul Rudd, and as of today’s announcement, James Franco are attached to the Allen Ginsberg biopic “Howl.” I wonder if Franco’s turn as a pothead in Pineapple Express had anything to do with it.
Is that a dream team or what? The 1950’s era film will focus on the obscenity trial launched to censor Ginsberg’s groundbreaking book-length poem, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
More after the jump…
The real-life characters featured in the film: beat poet Allen Ginsberg (Franco), prosecuting attorney Ralph McIntosh (Strathairn), Judge Clayton Horn (Alda), prosecution witness Professor David Kirk (Daniels), radio personality and prosecution witness Gail Potter (Parker), and literary critic and defense witness Luther Nichols (Rudd).
And the icing on the beatnik cake? Gus Van Sant is executive producing the project, scheduled for a 2009 release. Don’t confuse it with other upcoming “Howl,” about a werewolf who doubles as a cop. Not kidding.
Image: James Franco, Pineapple Express, Sony Pictures, 2008
