VARIETY: James Franco visits 'Holy Land'
Actor options memoir as potential feature
By SAM THIELMAN
James Franco has optioned D.J. Waldie's memoir "Holy Land" for a potential feature.
According to Waldie, Franco read the book in a class at UCLA and "it stuck in his memory.
"Several months ago I was asked through my agent if it was available for option, and of course I said yes."
"Holy Land" is Waldie's chronicle of his life in the sometimes-surreal suburb of Lakewood, Calif. The neighborhood of identical houses, built very quickly in the 1950s, was populated mostly by WWII vets and owned by Jewish businessmen who would have been prevented from living there because of their heritage.
The deal was negotiated by Jody Hotchkiss on behalf of Chris Calhoun at Sterling Lord Literistic.