James Franco's Next Gay Character? Robert Mapplethorpe

The long-gestating film biography of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe will now star James Franco, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Mapplethorpe, who dies of AIDS-related causes in 1989, following a colorful life during which the sometimes graphic homoeroticism of his art frequently led to battles with censors, will be the latest LGBT character Franco will play on screen. The versatile actor has previously portrayed James Dean, Allen Ginsberg, Harvey Milk's boyfriend Scott Smith, and poet Hart Crane.

The project is among the first selected to receive grants through the Tribeca Film Institute's 9th annual Tribeca All Access Program. The movie biography will mark the narrative debut of documentarian Ondi Timoner. Timoner will also produce the project with Miles Levy, Eliza Dushku, and her brother Nate Dushku, who was once expected to play Mapplethorpe.