Hollywood hunks are lining up for Van Sant's Harvey Milk project

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Three leading actors—none of them hard on the eyes, either—are in negotiations to star opposite Sean Penn in Milk, Gus Van Sant's upcoming biopic on legendary gay activist and slain San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk. Josh Brolin (above), coming off an extraordinary year of performances in No Country for Old Men, American Gangster, In the Valley of Elah, and Grindhouse, is up for the role of Dan White, Milk's killer.

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Emile Hirsch, who was directed by Penn in this year's Into the Wild, is circling the role of activist Cleve Jones, an ally of Milk's who went on to create the NAMES Project AIDS Quilt. And Spider-Man 3's James Franco (below) is in talks to play Milk's lover and campaign manager Scott Smith. Shooting is set to start in January.

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