film / tv / substack / social media / lists / web / celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / substack / web / celeb

James Franco Zeroville.png

James Franco is Back With the Trailer for 'Zeroville'

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | August 15, 2019 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | August 15, 2019 |


James Franco Zeroville.png

Yup, James Franco is back, apparently. Remember how he went away a couple of years ago because of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct? Well, as is the way of Hollywood, there is always a way for (allegedly) bad men to return. This one, however, is a bit different.

The trailer for Zeroville sees Franco starring and directing in an adaptation of Steve Erickson’s celebrated novel. It follows the story of Vikar, a movie-obsessed student with a tattoo of Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun on the back of his head, as he tries to find his place in Hollywood at the end of the ’60s. As Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie reminded us, this was a major period of social upheaval and change in the industry, with the old studio system dying out in favor of the hot young auteurs. The book name-drops plenty of these figures and it looks like the movie will too.



It’s an eclectic cast, to be sure, and the Wikipedia listing makes it all the stranger: Megan Fox, Seth Rogen, Jacki Weaver, Danny McBride, and Joey King appear. Dave Franco is apparently playing Montgomery Clift, which is highly generous of his brother, while Horatio Sanz is Francis Ford Coppola? Okay… Thomas Ian Nicholas, the guy from Rookie of the Year and one of the people from the Handbook For Mortals mess — remember that?! — is playing Martin Scorsese?! I would say this is all a fever-dream, but honestly, this is also just Peak Franco.

It’s worth noting that this film actually finished shooting in late 2014 and has essentially sat on a shelf for the past few years. Its original distributor went bankrupt in 2015 and it has since been picked up by myCinema. The chances are this won’t get a big release, but it was never designed for such. The trailer also makes it look oddly cheap and slapdash given the starry nature of the cast. I expect it’ll be a curiosity and not much else.

Zeroville is set for release on September 20.



Header Image Source: YouTube // myCinema