How Luke Perry and Jacob From Lost Helped James Franco Win Blood Meridian Rights

So how did James Franco convince super-producer Scott Rudin to give him the directing gig for Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian when directors like Ridley Scott and Todd Field previously flirted with the project? By shooting an expensive test scene with horses, costumes, Luke Perry (!), his brother Dave Franco, and Mark Pellegrino — benevolent Jacob from Lost — as the villainous Judge. Franco told EW: “So I called [Rudin] up and said, ‘I’m planning on doing this. You don’t have to give me any money, I can finance this shoot. Would you just wait? Don’t do anything with it until I show this to you.’ And I showed it to him and he loved it.” [Inside Movies/EW]

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