15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
James Franco's first studio film since #MeToo settlement to get U.S. distribution
James Franco's first studio movie since his 2021 sexual harassment settlement has secured domestic distribution.
The Palo Alto native stars in the true-crime thriller 'Golden State Killer,' which will be released via Lionsgate Films' longtime horror genre partner Grindstone Entertainment Group. The film, starring Vincent Gallo as the title character, is also on sale this week at the Cannes Film Festival market, according to Deadline, which first reported the news.
The movie tells the true story of Joseph James De Angelo, who committed at least 13 murders, 51 rapes and 120 burglaries throughout California beginning in the 1970s before being arrested in 2018. Franco plays the detective who tracks the notorious killer.
The project, written and directed by Vito Brown, has already been mired in controversy since allegations of misconduct by Gallo during auditions in November 2023 surfaced last year.
Two actresses accused Gallo of discussing his 'torture porn fantasies' as they auditioned for roles as victims of the killer, according to a 2024 report by Rolling Stone. After complaints were filed to SAG-AFTRA, the union said it was committed to ensuring a safe and respectful environment on all film sets. A spokesperson for the film also said that a union intimacy coordinator had been hired.
Franco's upcoming movies 'Bunny-Man' and 'Alina of Cuba: La Hija Rebelde' (in which he plays Cuban dictator Fidel Castro) are in post-production. But the Academy Award-nominated actor hasn't appeared in a studio movie since a $2.2 million lawsuit brought against him by four former students at his Los Angeles acting school, Studio 4, who accused him of sexual misconduct. In the 2021 settlement, he admitted it was 'wrong' to have sex with his students.
The first public allegations against Franco related to his acting school surfaced in January 2018, at the dawn of the #MeToo movement. Franco had recently appeared at the Golden Globes wearing a pin advertising the Time's Up campaign, which stood against such harassment.
Meanwhile, Franco's brother, actor and filmmaker Dave Franco, is dealing with his own legal troubles. He and his wife Alison Brie were hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit.
