In 2018, sexual misconduct allegations against James Franco derailed the actor’s career. Five women came forward and accused Franco of sexually exploitative behavior during his teaching tenure at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. The actor denied the allegations, saying they were “not accurate.”
Franco had just written, directed, starred in, and won a Golden Globe for “The Disaster Artist” — he might have even lost a chance at scoring a Best Actor Oscar nomination due to the allegations surfacing just as voting was about to begin.
Franco settled with the accusers in 2021, and records that PEOPLE obtained at the time showed that he agreed to pay $2 million in the settlement.
That said, Franco somehow managed to get invited to the Cannes opening ceremony on Tuesday, where he walked the red carpet. He now reveals to Deadline that he has a role in a “big studio movie” — the first blockbuster, he tells the outlet, that he’s appeared in for close to a decade.
Franco says the film has already been shot, but “it won’t be ready for this summer, but my guess is it will be end of this year or spring-summer 2027.”
What could this movie be? A blockbuster? It’s anybody’s guess. Ti West’s “Scrooge?” That one already has Johnny Depp attached.
Ever since the allegations, Franco has acted in only three low-budget indies: “Future World,” “Kin,” and “The Pretenders.” However, he has since branched out to Europe, starring last year in the French film “Le Prix de l’argent” and the Italian film “Hey Joe,” neither of which was released in the U.S.
It’s not just Hollywood that turned its back on Franco; even his former close friend Seth Rogen no longer speaks to him and has publicly criticized him on multiple occasions. Whatever this next “blockbuster” turns out to be, don’t expect Rogen to appear in it.
Netflix and Skydance Animation have also called it quits. The two sides announced Monday that they're ending the animated film deal struck back in 2023, framing it as a mutual decision.