James Franco’s upcoming remake of the 1996 made-for-TV thriller Mother, May I Sleep With Danger? will have some predictably unpredictable Franco-esque plot changes. Apparently, his new version of the film will be a little less Psycho and a little more Twilight, since the film world’s Renaissance man has decided to take the project on as “a vampire love story.” It is, after all, a 20th-anniversary remake, so Franco seems to be re-vamping the story for a contemporary audience. Most importantly, the main character, Laurel (played by Tori Spelling in 1996), will be seduced not by clingy heartthrob Billy Jones, but by a girl.
Tori Spelling will return to play Laurel’s protective mother for Franco’s remake, and both Ivan Sergei (who formerly played the murderer-boyfriend) and Franco himself will make appearances. The 2016 Laurel will be played by Leila George D’Onofrio — daughter of Vincent D’Onofrio and Greta Scacchi — while her seductress, Pearl, will be portrayed by The Leftovers’ Emily Meade. Meade seems to be a Franco favorite; she is also set to star in his HBO series The Deuce next year.
Franco’s decision to depict a same-sex love story seems progressive, even though we’ve seen our fair share of vampire romances by 2016. Curiously enough, Franco says that the the idea for the adaptation actually came from Will Ferrell’s 2015 remake of Lifetime’s A Deadly Adoption, and that the channel wanted to see if Franco would do something similar. The new MMISWD is set to premiere on Lifetime on June 18, but subscribers to the channel’s streaming service, Lifetime Movie Club, can catch it on April 29. Franco promises, “You’ll have a very non-Lifetime movie on Lifetime,” but we’ll have to see about that.
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Text by Blair Cannon
Image from YouTube