Rialto Report Owners Snag Mainstream Gay-centric Feature Deal

NEW YORK CITY—Anybody remember Centurians of Rome? It's a 1981 gay movie set in ancient Rome from director John Christopher, and starring some fairly well-known performers of the time, including George Payne, David Morris and Eric Ryan with a screenplay by Timothy Michaels ... and additional dialog by George Bosque. That last credit is the important one, because George Bosque was also the money guy behind the production. And where did he get that money? Well, seems Bosque was a security guard in the late '70s/early '80s and managed to steal $1.85 million from his clients before apparently vanishing from society altogether. Sounds like a hell of a story, right? Well, The Rialto Report creators Ashley and April West thought so as well, and it inspired them to write an article for The Daily Beast titled "Centurians of Rome: How a Bank Robber Made the Most Expensive Gay Porno of All Time." Not only that, but the principals behind Valparaiso Pictures—David Carrico, Adam Paulsen and Bobby Hoppey—along with David Permut of Permut Presentations and indie producer Adam Blum have bought the rights to the Wests' story, and are currently searching for a screenwriter and director to turn the work into a feature film—though frankly, it might make a hilarious "look what they did to make an expensive gay porn movie Way Back When" comedy. By the way, the feds eventually did find Bosque, and according to a story on Deadline.com by Andreas Wiseman, "Bosque, a Miami native of Cuban descent, evaded capture for more than a year. Bosque said he had spent or given away all the money he stole in a spree in which he lived in penthouse suites and rode in limousines and helicopters ... after a global search[, he] was prosecuted by a young aggressive attorney named Robert Mueller[!] and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Released in 1986, he died five years later at the age of only 36 of a suspected drug overdose." The Wests, of course, are well-known in the adult world, not only for their incredibly comprehensive collection of oral and video recordings and photos of adult entertainment personalities, but because they're also consultants for the HBO series The Deuce.