Werner Herzog’s having a tough time getting his Gertrude Bell biopic Queen Of The Desert moving. He has Naomi Watts and Robert Pattinson still attached to co-star and though he lost Jude Law, you’d think the two big names would be enough to crack open the financing wallets. Not so – but now he has James Franco as a possible replacement for Law.
The situation remains fragile, however, as Franco is a typically busy bod and might not have time to fill the role. Expect this dancing around diaries to continue for a while yet.
Queen Of The Desert follows Watts as Bell, the writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political reformer as she broke down barriers and trod her own path at the birth of the 20th century. Pattinson is down to play Colonel T.E. Lawrence and Franco is being courted to step in as Henry Cadogan, who romanced Bell before his untimely death.
Franco’s currently at work on real-life crime drama True Story and is also directing his Bukowski biopic. He’s also set to star in crime thriller Good People.