James Franco to play twin role in porn drama

Los Angeles: Actor James Franco will play twin brothers on an upcoming HBO porn drama titled "The Deuce".

The drama follows the story of the legalisation and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York from the early 1970s through the mid 1980s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world that existed in midtown Manhattan until the rise of HIV, the violence of the cocaine epidemic and the renewed real estate market all ended the bawdy turbulence.

It centres on the twin brothers, who were players in the Times Square world and became fronts for mob control of the volatile and lucrative industry from its origins. Michelle MacLaren ('Game of Thrones', 'Breaking Bad') has signed up to direct, reported Aceshowbiz.

HBO has re-teamed with producer-writer David Simon (creator of 'The Wire') for "The Deuce".

"We're interested in what it means when profit is the primary metric for what we call society," Simon said of drama.

"In that sense, this story is intended as neither prurient nor puritan. It's about a product, and those human beings who created, sold, profited from and suffered with that product."