Gus Van Sant begins production on Milk :: Film & TV News :: Articles

Paste loves Gus Van Sant. Seriously*, that dude owes us a round for all the publicity we give him. But his work is just that good and we can’t get enough of it, so news that he decided to travel south for the winter for his newest film Milk to start production in San Francisco has us excited. We hope that Fred Phelps is too busy to try and protest filming.

Milk stars Sean Penn as San Francisco gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk who is known as being the first openly gay politician in California (some posit in the United States) and “The Mayor of Castro Street.” Milk was assassinated along with then mayor George Muscone by Dan White. Milk’s story doesn’t stop there, though, as White’s trial yielded only a conviction in voluntary manslaughter due to what is known as the legendary “Twinkie defense.” Punk aficionados may also recognize the trial as the topic of the Dead Kennedy’s cover of “I Fought the Law (And I Won).”

Van Sant has put together a strong cast in this biopic with Josh Brolin starring as White and additional talent including Emile Hirsch, James Franco and Diego Luna. Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen of American Beauty fame are producing with Focus Features set to release the film. Dustin Lance Black (Big Love) wrote the screenplay. That’s a lot of serious movie making talent for one film, but many Bay Area residents will likely agree that Milk’s life deserves no less than the best Hollywood has to offer.

In related news, there is no word yet on Bryan Singer’s Milk biopic which is rumored to be in development hell until the WGA strike ends.

* Not seriously at all.

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