The 127 Hours star will produce a biopic about the 2007 murder of gay porn filmmaker Bryan Kocis, who was reportedly stabbed 28 times and set alight by escorts Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes.

King Cobra will reportedly feature Christian Slater and Molly Ringwald, while Disney Channel star Garrett Clayton is in talks to play porn star Brent Corrigan, who was one of Kocis' muses.

Franco will also serve as an executive producer on The Deuce, which will be set in the late 1970s and early 1980s in New York City. The show will explore the legalisation and subsequent rise of the porn industry.