News

Conspiracy theories are rampant in modern Hollywood, with internet weirdos claiming that Avril Lavigne died and was replaced with a lookalike, Beyonce runs the Illuminati, Logan Paul is a talented performer, etc. But viewers back in the day didn’t need the internet to be weird. Conspiracy theories were just as prevalent in Old Hollywood, there just weren't any subreddits to share them on.

5 James Dean Faked His Death

Rumors of faked death have plagued everyone from Elvis to Tupac, but they go back at least as far as James Dean, whose fans immediately refused to believe he really perished in a 1955 car crash. The car, which was put on display by its new owner, wasn’t damaged enough to have withstood a deadly crash, they insisted, so he must have been either disfigured to the point of being hidden by the studio or used the accident as an excuse...

According to Deadline, Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter is developing a feature-film adaptation of A Murder in Hollywood: The Untold Story of Tinseltown’s Most Shocking Crime, which deals with the “deadly love affair between screen legend Lana Turner and her gangster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato.“

A Murder in Hollywood was written by bestselling author Casey Sherman and will be published through Sourcebooks early next year. Terence Winter will write the script for the movie and will also produce through his Cold Front Pictures production company alongside Rachel Winter through her Tangerine Pictures banner.

Lana Turner was one of the biggest actresses of the 1940s, best known for her role in The Postman Always Rings Twice. She later caught the attention of Johnny Stompanato, an enforcer for gangster Mickey Cohen and the Cohen crime family, who pursued her relentlessly. What followed was a turbulent love affair full of violent arguments and...

Exclusive: Terence Winter, the master of the gangster genre known for his work on The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire and more, is teaming with Academy Award-nominated producer Rachel Winter (Dallas Buyers Club) to develop a feature adaptation of A Murder in Hollywood: The Untold Story of Tinseltown’s Most Shocking Crime.

A Murder in Hollywood scribe Casey Sherman

Marking the latest work of non-fiction from New York Times bestselling author Casey Sherman, the book optioned by the Winters chronicles the deadly love affair between screen legend Lana Turner and her gangster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. It’ll be published through Sourcebooks early next year. Terence Winter will script the screen adaptation and produce through his Cold Front Pictures banner, alongside Rachel Winter through her Tangerine Pictures shingle.

The option marks just the latest high-profile deal for the prolific Sherman, whose bestseller 12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady’s Fight for Redemption,...

“Isn’t that just like a wop, brings a knife to a gunfight,” Sean Connery said in his Academy Award-winning his role The Untouchables in 1987. This, from a man who only brought his fists to one in real life.

In the Brian De Palma film, Connery played Officer Jim Malone, a tough old Irish cop chasing gangsters in Al Capone-era Chicago. But Connery also took on a mobster in real life as a tough young Scottish actor. In 1957, Connery was shooting the film Another Time, Another Place in London. His co-star was Lana Turner, a Hollywood sex symbol whose boyfriend was a mob enforcer who looked so much like a gangster he could have come out of central casting with his penchant for lime green suits and pistol cufflinks. Connery hadn’t yet earned his double-0 status as James Bond, but he put on a real-life performance which has become Hollywood mythology.

Keanu Reeves and Catherine Zeta-Jones are circling Stompanato, a biopic about Johnny Stompanato, the boyfriend of actress Lana Turner who was killed by her young daughter, Cheryl Crane. Adrian Lyne is attached to direct. Producing the project are Contrafilm's Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson along with Erwin Stoff. The script was written by David and Janet Peoples (12 Monkeys) and Sebastian Gutierrez (Snakes on a Plane). The project has landed on the steps of Warner Bros. Pictures but has not made the studio its home yet as dealmaking has not started.

Keanu Reeves and Catherine Zeta-Jones are circling Stompanato, a biopic about Johnny Stompanato, the boyfriend of actress Lana Turner who was killed by her young daughter, Cheryl Crane. Adrian Lyne is attached to direct. Producing the project are Contrafilm's Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson along with Erwin Stoff. The script was written by David and Janet Peoples (12 Monkeys) and Sebastian Gutierrez (Snakes on a Plane). The project has landed on the steps of Warner Bros. Pictures but has not made the studio its home yet as dealmaking has not started.