A while back, we reported that James Franco had been cast to play the beatnik writer Allen Ginsberg in the upcoming film “Howl.” We also reported that it was a documentary, which we found out courtesy of MTV, and that Franco would be playing Ginsberg in re-enactment scenes, the “young Ginsberg” days before he got fat and bald. Franco looks like the writer did at that time, so the re-enactment idea made sense. Today, however, word is that “Howl,” to be written, directed and produced by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (respectively responsible for the Oscar-winning documentaries “Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt,” and Epstein directed “The Times of Harvey Milk”), is actually a full-blown biopic that coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of Ginsberg’s “Howl.” [THR]

Revolving around the time straight after “Howl” was published and focusing on the court trail that attempted to censor the obscenity-laden book, an all-star cast of David Straithairn, Mary-Louise Parker, Paul Rudd, Jeff Daniels and Alan Alda have been subsequently cast.

They will all play fictional characters based on real-life partakers; Judge Clayton (Alan Alda), prosecution witness Professor David Kirk (Jeff Daniels), radio personality and prosecution witness Gail Potter (Mary-Louise Parker), literary critic and defence witness Luther Nichols (Paul Rudd) and prosecuting attorney Ralph McIntosh (David Strathairn). Gus Vant Sant, whose take on the Harvey Milk story “Milk” which also features Franco is set to alert the Academy in November, is set to executive produce the film, while the Coen Brothers’ collaborator Cater Burwell is to handle the original score.

Epstein and Friedman certainly have quite the task ahead of them with their first narrative feature, but based on our knowledge of the subject matter and the incredible level of talent involved, things certainly look positive. Let’s hope we’re not wrong.