James Franco is up to his old gay tricks posting this Instagram pic sporting Nasty Pig underwear with King Cobra actor and Palo Alto co-star, Keegan Allen. Franco is heading up the film about murdered porn producer Bryan Kocis, who owned Cobra Films, and was killed by two Virginia Beach escorts and aspiring porn producers, Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerkes. The cast sounds kooky great to me; Molly Ringwald, Christian Slater, and Disney Channel star Garrett Clayton, playing porn twink, Brent Corrigan.

The murder that was carried out in 2007, was extremely violent, with Kocis stabbed 28 times and his throat slit. Then his house set on fire to destroy evidence. Cobra Films alleged they owned the rights to his Corrigan’s name (his real name is Sean Lockhart) and sued him for lying about his age when he began work for them (he was under 18). Cuadra and Kerkes hoped that by killing Kocis they would eliminate the competition and start a new era of gay porn. Geez, what a sleazy story! A little complicated but juicy, trashy and lots of room for Franco to push boundaries, which he LOVES to do. Corrigan has no involvement with the film and in a post on Facebook, where he elaborated:

“The internet has been a buzz regarding some recent news that a movie is being filmed right now in New York State chronicling the Bryan Kocis murder and the early days of my adult career.

I was originally approached to be a part of the film as a consultant and the cast. I was asked to play a small part in the film and declined the role.”

Corona is writing his own book and still works in porn. (A quick Google search will show you that.)

Franco has been criticized for his history of playing gay, from Milk to the indie I Am Michael (which was also directed by King Cobra’s, Justin Kelly). In 2013, he co-directed the short Interior: Leather Bar, a fictionalized depiction of the last 40 minutes of William Friedkin‘s 1980 thriller Cruising with Al Pacino, about a serial killer who murders gay men in the leather scene.

Earlier this year, Franco interviewed himself for FourTwoNine magazine, where his “straight” side questioned the “gay” version of himself.

Straight James: OK, so, good place to start. Let’s get substantial: are you fucking gay or what?

Gay James: Well, I like to think that I’m gay in my art and straight in my life. Although, I’m also gay in my life up to the point of intercourse, and then you could say I’m straight. So I guess it depends on how you define gay. If it means whom you have sex with, I guess I’m straight. In the twenties and thirties, they used to define homosexuality by how you acted and not by whom you slept with. Sailors would fuck guys all the time, but as long as they behaved in masculine ways, they weren’t considered gay.

He’s clearly got some stuff to work out but I don’t see the issue with Franco working with gay subject matter. He doesn’t shy away from anything explicit. He’s obviously pro-gay and frankly, it’s fun and exciting to have a guy like Franco take on projects like this. This one is particularly creepy, but it’s a true story. Viva la artistic freedom, kids.