James Franco is, bizarrely, still a thing.
Now he’s coming to put that indelible Franco stamp on TV movies with a lesbian vampire remake of Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?
The original was a camp classic starring Tori Spelling as a coed whose boyfriend may or may not be a murderer. Spelling is back in this version, but she’s no college student this time. Though she is mother to one. Lifetime’s synopsis asks: "Will Julie be able to save her daughter from an eternity of heartache before it’s too late?"
That sounds bonkers. We’re all in on this. It’s a little unclear if James Franco is a net positive as a director or not, but he sure knows how to pick a project.
Mother seems to be a continuation of Lifetime's strategy of saying yes to heavy hitters with weird ideas. This Will Ferrell-Kristin Wiig film now seems less like an outlier and more like a harbinger of a content strategy. Call it the Sharknado effect: When a cable channel becomes self-aware and leans into their outsize reputation with winking content. Sharknado has resulted in some legitimately insane and kinda good movies. Lifetime is clearly shooting for a more on-brand version of that buzz.
Watch the trailer for Franco's film below. Keep an eye out for the instantly iconic line: “I haven’t been completely honest with you. I’m a vampire.”
Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? airs Saturday, June 18 on Lifetime.