Smith and Mapplethorpe

Timed perfectly to the demise of the Hotel Chelsea, word comes today that Godmother of Punk Patti Smith's tale of coming of age with Robert Mapplethorpe in New York in the '60s and '70s, Just Kids, is heading to the big screen.

Smith will be working with screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) to develop her National Book Award-winning memoir, which centers around her and Mapplethorpe's lives together in and around the Hotel, into film form. The duo are currently working on spec, so it's still too early tell when we'll be seeing the results, but we're willing to bet that "edgy" young actresses (ahem, Kristin Stewart) will be tripping all over themselves for the role. As for Mapplethorpe? Obviously: James Franco, who's already expressed interest in portraying the iconic gay photographer. Will they be able to live up to the original? You be the judge: