Dave Franco isn’t entirely shutting down the opportunity to play Luigi Mangione in a potential future biopic.
During the Together star’s Tuesday night appearance on Watch What Happens Live, a fan asked if he’d take up the role if it was offered to him. The actor confirmed that he hasn’t been approached about a project centered around Manigone yet, though that hasn’t stopped fans from asking.
“Oh, how do I answer this. Um, no one has approached me about it yet, I’ll say that,” Franco said. “This is something that more people in my life reached out about this exact thing than anything else that has ever happened!”
However, Franco didn’t rule out playing the alleged gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December. “So let’s just say I’m open if it’s the right people, and let’s leave it at that,” he concluded.
At the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, the actor told The Hollywood Reporter he has “never received more texts in my life about anything” when asked about comparisons that have been made between himself and Mangione.
“Anyone who has my phone number has reached out about it,” he said. His wife and Together co-star Alison Brie noted at the time that she didn’t “think there have been any official offers” for Franco to star as Mangione in a film, to which he reiterated, “No, no official offers.”
Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 and charged with murder, and other charges. After he was identified as the suspect in the case, interest in the case peaked. He has pleaded not guilty.
A future film centered around Mangione isn’t a far-fetched idea, as the case has already sparked a musical and a few documentaries, including one from Alex Gibney.
Notably, Mangione was transported to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the same detention facility where Sean “Diddy” Combs has been held. His housing arrangement, too, partly inspired Luigi: The Musical, which satirized the fact that he, Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried all ended up in the same detention center.