It's maybe a new year, but some things will never change. James Franco, who has turned his movie career into a parallel art piece, will continue mining his fame in strange, surprising ways in 2012 and he's not wasting any time getting to it.
The Rotterdam International Film Festival has unveiled their lineup and among the films unveiled in the World Spectrum program will be the not so subtly titled "Francophrenia (Or Don't Kill Me, I Know Where The Baby Is)." Co-directed by Franco and documentary filmmaker Ian Olds, the film takes existing footage from Franco's stint on "General Hospital" (where he played the artist/killer Franco — yeah, this is pretty intensely meta) and reshapes it into a "humorous psycho-thriller." Awesome.
Oh, but is that not enough self-referential Franco for you? Then you'll be pleased to know he just sold his first novel (you'll remember he already has a collection of short stories out there "Palo Alto") entitled "Actors Anonymous" and it's "a fictionalized version of Mr. Franco’s experiences as an actor." Amazon is going to publish this literary masterwork which means you'll be able to fire it up on your Kindle while streaming "Flyboys" for the ultimate experience. [THR/Vulture]