Helen Mirren’s Love Ranch

Taylor Hackford has finished Love Ranch, and only needs a distributor so we can see it. The movie stars Hackford’s wife Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci as owners of the legendary Mustang Ranch, which became the first legal brothel in Nevada in 1971.

Variety: Their characters are loosely based on Joe and Sally Conforte, who ran the Mustang Ranch, where prizefighter Oscar Bonavena was gunned down after being suspected of having an affair with madam Sally. Newcomer Sergio Paris Mencheta plays the boxer; the love triangle figures heavily in the plot of a film scripted by Mark Jacobson.

“I‚Äôll take the film myself to studios, a track I followed with ‚ÄòRay,‚Äô” Hackford told Daily Variety. “Everyone thought that was a studio film, but I only showed it after I finished it. I got lucky because Ron Meyer loved it.” Hackford said that unless a helmer is making superhero films, he‚Äôs better off leading the sales charge on films he‚Äôs passionate about.