James Franco to star in ‘Iceman’

LONDON - Spider Man star James Franco is set to play an assassin’s role in the movie The Iceman based on the true-life story of mafia killer Richard Kuklinski.

The 127 Hours actor will play the role of Mr.Softee who acts as a mentor to the main character Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) in the film based on the real life story of the notorious mafia contract killer who hid his crimes from police by freezing his victim’s bodies to disguise the time of death.

Benicio Del Toro will play the killer’s employer, mobster Roy Demeo while Ariel Vromen who wrote the screenplay based on the book ‘The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer’ by Anthony Bruno with Morgan Land will direct.

Kuklinski’s family had no idea about his crimes and thought he was simply a mild mannered businessman.

“I am honoured to work with such a talented cast on such a compelling story. Since the early stages of development, I had a dream of casting Michael Shannon as Kuklinski, as I believe there’s no one else that can play this part better than him,” contactmusic.com quoted Vromen as saying.

“Richard Kuklinski is a remarkably vivid, imminently watchable character, as was evident from his real-life footage. Ariel is a tremendously talented young filmmaker who has poured his heart into this project and has a strong, artistic vision,” said Ehud Bleiberg, the film’s producer.