Reports about the end of James Franco's acting career have been greatly exaggerated, the 30-year-old told MTV News, smiling broadly, insisting, contrary to earlier statements, that just because he was going back to school, it didn't mean he was going to stop making movies.
His next post-"Pineapple Express" project, in fact, has him singing with excitement. Literally.
"Mark Ruffalo is gonna direct his first movie and he wants me to play a singer in a rock band," Franco revealed. "It's called 'Sympathy for Delicious.'" Read more...
Franco stepped into a stoner persona for "Pineapple Express," and now he's set to explore his even more hippier side as the legendary poet Allen Ginsberg. The actor gave the news exclusively to MTV News, revealing that he'll be tackling the writer for a new movie called, appropriately enough, "Howl," after Ginsberg's famous poem written at the height of the Beat Generation.
“It's by a two time Oscar Award winner named Rob Epstein, he's actually a documentary film director," Franco said of the project. “So I'm gonna play the young Allen Ginsberg, the days before he went bald and gained weight. The early Howl days." Read more...
It's day four of Comic-Con which means yes, sadly the end is near. But our coverage is just beginning today. Before the sun sets on San Diego tonight we'll have talked to everyone from Jason Statham and Wes Craven to the cast of the new "Friday the 13th."
Not a bad lineup and it all comes after a Saturday chock full of scoops. If you weren't with us yesterday you missed McG and Anton Yelchin talking "Terminator Salvation," Frank Miller talking about the "300" prequel, and the latest on "The Clone Wars."
Today the news keeps flying fast and furious. Coming up soon right here you'll find the latest on "The Wolfman," breaking news on James Franco's role as a world famous writer, and Sam Raimi with an "Evil Dead" update. And that's only what we know right now. More big surprises are surely on the way as this crazy Comic-Con wraps up.
It was one of the show's funniest moments, but sadly the MTV cameras pulled wide when "Pineapple Express" stars James Franco and Seth Rogen pulled out a giant bag of "weed" and then proceeded to smoke it. The censors apparently got skittish, but that won't stop us. Below, check out the unaired, uncensored close-up of the pair's half-baked hijinx, and then click here for more things you didn't see.
Our guest blogger Laura Culpepper will be covering the highlights from now through the big show on Sunday, so check in daily as she live-blogs her Movie Awards experience!
Hey everyone! Yesterday was crazy, but I've rested up now and I'm getting ready for the big awards tomorrow. There were two screenings yesterday: "Kung Fu Panda" starring Jack Black and "Pineapple Express" starring Seth Rogen and James Franco.
First stop was to Paramount for the "Kung Fu Panda" screening. I'm usually not a big fan of animation, but this one was surprisingly good! There were some pretty awesome action scenes, and Jack Black did a great job of giving Po, the main character, a voice. The Q&A after was great, and we even got to see Jack show off some Kung Fu moves of his own.
MTV News' Kim Stolz also interviewed Jack, dressed in a Panda costume, no less. Read more...
Just for a minute, forget about superheroes and sequels. Because sometimes even movie geeks need to stop eating popcorn and get some nutrition. And that's why we're looking forward to rounding out 2008 with a nice, big, informative glass of "Milk."
"I just did this film called 'Milk' with Sean Penn and Gus Van Sant about Harvey Milk," explained Emile "Speed Racer" Hirsch recently, giving us some early details on what many are already calling this year's Oscar flick to beat. "I think it's going to be a really good film."
When we caught up with Josh Brolin a few weeks back, he had a lot to say about the top-secret biopic, which will depict one of the most bizarre stories in American politics. And in this age of Eliot Spitzer, that's saying quite a bit. Read more...
Director David Gordon Green is showing off his versatility with this weekend's Kate Beckinsale-led drama "Snow Angels" and this summer's stoner comedy "Pineapple Express" starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. When we caught up with his "Angels" cast, we asked them the question...is this the year of David Gordon Green? Watch below to find out, and then click here to read more.
James Franco is a great actor, and over the past few years he's been in so many films that I feel like I've spent more time talking with him than my own mother. Which made it all the more strange when I caught up with him on the set of the Justin Lin film "Finishing the Game," for my most bizarre interview of 2007. Speaking in the basement of an abandoned L.A. warehouse, I asked questions about Lin's indie/comedy reinvention, Franco's upcoming flicks "Flyboys" and "Spider-Man 3," and requested a standard on-camera introduction. Maybe I was having a bad day; maybe he was.
Read more...
We don't like to deal in rumors and hearsay, but this tidbit straight from the mouth of Judd Apatow himself is too juicy to pass up. While Apatow's next movie "Knocked Up" stars longtime friend Seth Rogen, it wasn't meant to be that way. In fact, on the list of candidates to play the male lead of "Ben Stone," Rogen ended up near the bottom.
"Seth was the tenth actor to attempt to play the part, and nine other actors were fired," Apatow revealed to MTV. "We would ask an actor to come out and shoot [a] scene, and I would come out and fire them or they quit."
That revelation was an especially uncomfortable moment, particularly since Apatow was sitting next to Rogen at the time. So thank goodness he was kidding. The notion that rogen was the tenth choice to play the role is the concept for a fake documentary that Apatow will include on the "Knocked Up" DVD as a bonus feature. "[It's] called 'Finding Ben Stone' and it's a search for who will play this character," said the director who's quickly becoming a comedy legend. "You see all of the other actors who I fired before I found Ben. So we have James Franco, and David Krumholtz, and Gerry Bednob who is Mooj from the '40 Year Old Virgin.' At one point I thought I could be the lead, and Justin Long is in it. It's very funny, and it makes me look like an ass."
Is Apatow turning into Christopher Guest? "Finding Ben Stone" isn't the only fake documentary Apatow is planning for the DVD, he divulged. "There's another fake documentary about the fact that I'm fighting with the studio so much, that they send ["Capote" director] Bennett Miller to oversee the shoots," Apatow chuckled. "He's trying to take control of the movie and it ends up in a big fist fight between me and Bennett. [Very] funny."
"Knocked Up," starring Seth rogen, Katherine Heigl and Paul Rudd, arrives in theaters on June 1st.
