HBO had plenty to announce by the recent TCA press tour (as well to keep quiet), and now some more good news has flown in under the wire. The network has handed a series order to a ‘70s New York porn drama from The Wire creator David Simon, rounded out by James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal. No, we’ve made none of this up.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, The Deuce has earned an official series pickup from the cable giant, albeit without disclosing an official episode number or premiere window. Developed with Simon’s frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, The Deuce follows legalization and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s.

No less hilariously, Franco will star as twins porn kings Vincent and Frankie Martino, with Gyllenhaal playing Eileen “Candy” Merrell,  a Times Square hooker with entrepreneurial aspirations. The series seeks to chronicle “the rough-and-tumble world that existed in midtown Manhattan until the rise of HIV, the violence of the cocaine epidemic and a rejuvenated real estate market ended the bawdy turbulence.”

Revered director Michelle MacLaren helmed the pilot episode, and will keep on as an executive producer alongside Simon, Pelecanos, Franco and others. Gyllenhaal will also be credited as a producer.

Quite a mouthful for now, but can The Deuce live up to Simon’s past work, twin Francos and all?

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