Acting career
After graduation, Franklin made his theater debut as a slave in The Public Theater's production of Timon of Athens . He would go on to act in Mark Taper Forum's production of In the Belly of the Beast. [2]
One of his first jobs was acting in the New York Shakespeare Festival, where he appeared in the Twelfth Night and Cymbeline.
Franklin began his on-screen career in the film Five on the Black Hand Side in 1973. From there, he acted in a string of guest roles on television shows such as Barnaby Jones; episode titled "Focus on Fear" (January 31, 1980). The Rockford Files , Good Times , The Incredible Hulk and The Streets of San Francisco . [3] Over the years, Franklin's looks have typically landed him roles portraying men of power, such as members of the police force or military officials.
Between 1975 and 1985 Franklin was a regular cast member in four TV series. The first, ABC's Caribe in 1975, was a law enforcement drama that aired 13 episodes and cast him as police sergeant Mark Walters. Two years later, NBC's fantasy-science fiction series The Fantastic Journey lasted for 10 episodes, with Franklin as athletic young physician Dr. Fred Walters. After four more years, a two-hour television film, McClain's Law , led to Franklin's second police series titled, per the telefilm, McClain's Law , a modern-day NBC vehicle for Gunsmoke star James Arness, with Franklin fifth-billed as police detective Jerry Cross, but the 1981–82 series only lasted 14 episodes. Franklin's longest lasting and most recognizable acting role was his 1983–85 portrayal of Captain Crane on the popular action-adventure series The A-Team . [1]
Film career
Inspired by the low-budget films of the 1980s, such as Chan Is Missing (1982), Franklin enrolled at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles in 1986. [2]
His 30-minute AFI thesis film Punk is about an African-American boy in South-central Los Angeles dealing with his sexuality and manhood. [4]
Straight out of his Master's program, Franklin landed a job with movie producer-director Roger Corman in 1989.
While working at Concord Films, Franklin gained experience working on low-budget films, helping to crank out six films in just two years' time. From 1989 to 1990, Franklin worked on Nowhere to Run , Eye of the Eagle 2: Inside the Enemy , and Full Fathom Five , respectively, under Concord Films.
At the end of the 80s, producer Jesse Beaton was looking for a director for a film called One False Move . Remembering Franklin's short film Punk, Beaton met Carl to discuss the film's vision. [5] Franklin's approach to the screenplay produced a thriller of the film noir genre. The story follows three drug dealers, played by Billy Bob Thornton, Cynda Williams, and Michael Beach and their interactions with a small-town Arkansas police chief played by Bill Paxton. [1] Far from his low-budget past, Franklin's budget of $2 million gave him a bit of room to be creative, and achieve his entire vision for the film. [5] However, the original version of the film, which was released in 1991, was thought to be overly violent. In response to such claims, Franklin told the Observer, "I didn't want people getting excited seeing how neat someone can be killed... I want the audience to feel the emotional loss of life--the real violence is the loss, the violation of humanity. They've taken from us someone who had dreams, hopes, the same set of emotions we have." [1]
Despite the film's lack of professional publicity, One False Move was largely promoted by word of mouth and earned itself mixed reviews. However, the reviews that were positive were very positive, gaining the project more attention. The film was named Best Film of the Year by Gene Siskel, and one of the 10 Best Films of 1992 by the National Review Board. [6]
Franklin collaborated with producers Jonathan Demme and Jesse Beaton on adapting Walter Mosley's novel Devil in a Blue Dress after Demme acquired its film rights. Franklin directed and wrote the screenplay for the film on a US$21,000,000 budget. [2] The film starred Denzel Washington as Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins.
Switching to television, Franklin directed Laurel Avenue , a two-part miniseries focused on an African-American family in Minnesota for HBO in 1993. [5] One issue in particular that stood out in the series was the issue of drug use. Franklin defended his depictions, explaining that "Drugs are a huge problem in the black community. [3] Not to include that would be a stupid oversight. But if the subject of drugs is introduced in the context of a hardworking family that has managed to maintain unity, and the audience sees drugs as a threat to that unity, they get a much greater understanding of the problem."
Following Laurel Avenue , Franklin found himself maintaining A-list status, which allowed him to work on bigger and more visible projects, such as 1998's One True Thing . The film is an adaptation of an autobiographical story by New York journalist Anna Quindlen, following a woman (Renée Zellweger) with no option but to leave Manhattan for the small town where she was raised when her mother (Meryl Streep) is diagnosed with cancer.
Franklin went on to direct High Crimes , starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, and Out of Time , which reunited him with Devil in a Blue Dress star Denzel Washington. Since then, Franklin has largely transitioned to high-profile television work. He has worked on two series produced by Steven Spielberg, directing the pilot of science fiction drama Falling Skies and an episode of the World War II drama The Pacific . He has also collaborated on two series with David Fincher, directing four episodes each of House of Cards and Mindhunter . Franklin directed multiple critically acclaimed episodes of the HBO series The Leftovers , across all three of its seasons. His prolific television credits also include Rome , The Newsroom , Homeland , Ray Donovan , and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story .
Unrealized projects
After Devil in a Blue Dress , Franklin and Denzel Washington planned to collaborate on a trilogy of films based on the Easy Rawlins character, but this never materialized. [7]
In January 1997, Variety indicated that Franklin was set to direct a thriller for Fox 2000 about ex-spy Aldrich Ames. [8] The film was titled Killer Spy, with Nicolas Cage reportedly being courted by the studio for the main role, [9] though Al Pacino was later attached. By June, Franklin had left the project, with James Gray entering negotiations to direct in his place. [10]
In June 1997, it was reported that Franklin had dropped out of directing Brokedown Palace , citing "creative differences" over the casting of the film. [11] Jonathan Kaplan took over for Franklin following his departure. [12]
In 1999, Franklin was attached as the director of the sci-fi film The Mothman Prophecies , with Richard Gere starring, before Mark Pellington was chosen. [13]
Franklin was attached to direct Will Smith in the fourth remake of the musical A Star Is Born for Warner Bros., though Smith passed up the role in order to star in Ali . [14]
In 2000, Franklin was expected to begin filming The Shooter, an adaptation of Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter. However, he stepped down as the director and writer of the project, which at the time was planned as a co-production between Paramount Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment. [15]
In 2001, Franklin was announced to direct and produce a film adaptation of the novel Rescue Me, by Gigi Levangie, who sold the rights to Fox Searchlight. As of the announcement, no screenwriter was attached to adapt the story. [16]
In 2002, it was reported that writer Sid Quashie was tapped by Paramount Pictures to adapt Susan Kelly's 1995 book The Boston Stranglers, with Franklin attached to direct. The film was scheduled to go into production that summer, with Gale Anne Hurd and Jesse Beaton producing. [17]
In 2003, Franklin was set to direct the legal thriller The Emperor of Ocean Park for Warner Bros. Pictures from the novel by Stephen L. Carter, adapted by Stephen Schiff. [18]
In early 2007, Franklin had been attached to direct the legal drama Tulia for Lionsgate Films, starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton. Karen Croner wrote the script for the film, based on the Nate Blakeslee book Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town. In August that year, John Singleton took over directing duties from Franklin, who departed from the project. [19] The film was not made.
On July 23, 2007, it was reported that Franklin would direct The Maintenance Man, the Screen Gems adaptation of Michael Baisden's novel about a gigolo in existential crisis, set to begin shooting later that year. [20]
On July 31, 2007, it was reported that Franklin would direct Snitch for New Line Cinema, a thriller produced by Guy East and Nigel Sinclair inspired by true events chronicled in a PBS Frontline documentary. Justin Haythe, who wrote the screenplay, was to executive produce the film along with Franklin's producing partner Jesse Beaton. [21]
In 2009, HBO was developing a historical miniseries from Franklin about the Black Panther Party called The Black Panthers, which he was writing and attached to direct and executive produce. [22] He later further developed it as a project for Netflix. [23]
On February 8, 2011, Peter Facinelli was reported to write the script for, star in and co-produce the indie crime drama El Chico Blanco, with Franklin directing. Titan Worldwide Entertainment was financing the project, which would have been shot in New Mexico. [24]
On May 29, 2012, Meyers Media Group and McDonald Entertainment announced that they would co-finance the thriller City of Night, to be directed by Franklin, written by David Chisholm and produced by Brendan McDonald. Set against the backdrop of South Central L.A., the film follows a rookie cop who becomes the target of an elaborate psychological game to destroy him. A date for principal photography was soon to be announced, [25] but the project did not move forward.
In March 2013, it was reported that Franklin would direct a biopic about the life of soul music singer/songwriter Sam Cooke. ABKCO Records was set to independently produce the project. [26] As of 2015, Franklin was still developing the film, which was then in the process of being cast from a script he wrote himself, based on Peter Guralnick's biography Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. [27]
In April 2015, Franklin replaced John Singleton as director of Morgan Creek's Tupac, a biopic written by Jeremy Haft and Ed Gonzalez about rapper Tupac Shakur. Casting for the role was reportedly under way, with principal photography planned to begin in August or September. [28]
In May 2016, Franklin was announced to be directing a film adaptation of William Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust . Our House Productions held the rights to produce the adaptation of the 1948 novel, with distribution rights for the project being sold at that year's Cannes Film Festival. [29]
In July 2016, John Malkovich signed on to star in and executive produce Humboldt, a TV drama series to be directed by Franklin, inspired by Emily Brady's best-selling book Humboldt: Life on America's Marijuana Frontier . The project was written on spec by Michael A. Lerner, and set up at Sony Pictures Television and Anonymous Content. [30] Despite Franklin's prolific career in television, this never came to fruition either.
In 2018, it was reported that Franklin was prepping to direct Excessive Force, a thriller about racism and corruption in the Cleveland police department written by Jeff Kwatinetz and Ice Cube and set to star Cube in the main role. The film was planned to enter production that fall, produced under Cube's production banner CubeVision. [31]
In 2023, Franklin expressed interest in someday directing a feature length film of his AFI short Punk. [32]
