Out doing promotions for his directing debut with “The Rental” this week, actor Dave Franco has revealed to Insider that he’s preparing to take on the role of one of the 1990s most iconic figures – rapper Vanilla Ice.
Franco spoke publicly about the role for the first time in a profile story for the magazine, saying: “We have been in development for a while but we are inching closer and closer to preproduction.” Currently there’s no start date on the project due to the pandemic.
The project was first heard about last year when the film “To the Extreme” popped up in a listing and ultimately made last year’s Black List. Penned by screenwriters Chris Goodwin and Phillip Van, the synopsis reads:
“From a high school dropout selling cars in Dallas to having the first hip-hop single to top the Billboard charts with ‘Ice Ice Baby,’ a young Vanilla Ice (aka Rob Van Winkle) struggles with stardom, extortion attempts, and selling out as he makes music history.”
Franco says he envisions the project to be tonally akin to “The Disaster Artist” – less broad comedy and more played for real which makes it both “funnier and [more] heartfelt”.
Vanilla Ice’s To the Extreme album sold 15 million copies worldwide and spent 16 weeks atop the Billboard 200. Ice briefly dated Madonna and starred in his own film “Cool as Ice,” but stardom quickly faded and he’s now a fixture on the reality TV circuit.
Franco confirms he’s been talking with the real Vanilla Ice who is “making us privy to information the public doesn’t know.”
