Did Vincent Gallo Direct ‘Golden State Killer’ Under Pseudonym? James Franco Co-Stars, 2026 Release Eyed

And what about Vincent Gallo? A filmmaker who helmed 1998’s delightful “Buffalo ‘66,” and then shocked Cannes in 2003 with “The Brown Bunny,” a film Roger Ebert famously called the worst in the history of the festival. Gallo retaliated by calling Ebert a “fat pig” and even cursed him with “colon cancer.” Ebert responded with his trademark wit, saying, “I am fat, but one day I will be thin, and you will still be the director of The Brown Bunny.”

Gallo has built a reputation not just for his avant-garde films, but for his outrageous behavior and inflammatory statements. He once put his sperm up for sale on his personal website for $1 million, offering a discount to “anyone with blonde hair and blue eyes,” sparking widespread backlash.

Regardless, Gallo, once an auteur provocateur, has in all likelihood been effectively “canceled” in Hollywood. His career has been marked by feuds, controversies on and off set, and accusations of inappropriate behavior, which have made studios and collaborators wary of working with him. As a result, he hasn’t directed a widely released film since “The Brown Bunny,” although he did premiere the experimental “Promises Written in Water” in 2010 at Venice, which never found a distributor.

Now, in what feels like one of the oddest projects in recent memory, Gallo and James Franco shot a film in late 2023 titled “Golden State Killer,” which has been quietly moving through post‑production and could land on screens sometime in 2026. In the film, Franco slips into the role of a detective chasing down real-life serial killer James DeAngelo, while Gallo is set to portray the killer himself.

However, the real mystery isn’t the crime — it’s who directed the damn thing. The current credit belongs to a name nobody in the industry seems to recognize: Vito Brown. Some are now pointing out that “Vito Brown” could very well be a pseudonym for Gallo himself — a theory fueled by the fact that he has used “Brown”-style names in past credits and starred in films with similar monikers.

Furthermore, back in early 2024, multiple actresses reportedly filed complaints with SAG‑AFTRA alleging that Gallo made sexually explicit and inappropriate comments during auditions for the film, which was then still shooting under its “The Policeman” title. The union eventually assigned an intimacy coordinator was ultimately brought onto the set.

Whether that drama is connected to the shadowy director credit remains unclear — but it certainly adds another layer to an already strange production.

As it stands, “Golden State Killer” has wrapped shooting and is in the hands of Lionsgate, which acquired the film last year, and they are hinting at a 2026 release.