“Hey Joe,” a drama in which James Franco plays a U.S. Navy sailor stationed in post-World War II Naples, will world premiere at the Rome Film Festival next month.

The gritty film, directed by Claudio Giovannesi (“Gomorrah” TV series, “Piranhas”), is produced by Italy’s Palomar in tandem with RAI Cinema and Vision Distribution, which will release the film in Italy. Vision Distribution International is handling international sales.

In “Hey Joe,” Franco plays Dean Barry, an American sailor who in 1944, at age 23, disembarks in war-torn Naples. He falls in love with a young, very poor, local woman named Lucia. A couple of years later, Dean is forced to leave Lucia, alone and pregnant, to go back to New Jersey. He eventually returns to Naples to find the woman and her son, Enzo — but the city has changed a lot and Dean must navigate these challenges leading up to a surprise finale. Franco speaks both English and Italian in the film.

Once one of Hollywood’s hottest stars, Franco has recently been taking roles outside of the U.S. following a now-settled 2019 lawsuit alleging that he sexually exploited young women who took his acting class. He made his return to film for the first time since the lawsuit earlier this year with the French action-thriller “The Price of Money: A Largo Winch Adventure.”

The “Hey Joe” screenplay is written by Giovannesi and ace Neapolitan writer Maurizio Braucci, who previously worked with Giovannesi on “Piranhas,” a drama about a gang of Neapolitan teens that won the Berlin Film Festival’s 2019 Silver Bear for best screenplay.

The film’s cast also comprises Francesco Di Napoli (“Piranhas”), Giulia Ercolini, Aniello Arena (“Reality,” “Fiore”) and Francesca Montuori (“My Brilliant Friend”).

The 19th edition of the Rome Film Festival will run Oct. 16-27.

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James Franco famously played a Riff Raff-inspired character in the 2012 film Spring Breakers. Now, he is playing the genuine article. Franco takes on the role of Riff Raff for the Houston rapper’s “Only In America” music video.
The visual is just as wacky as the Peach Panther record, including one scene where Franco is dry humping a woman on the beach. The video also splices in some Snapchat-style footage, complete with the captions.
Riff Raff has been turning lots of heads of late, most notably with his declartion that he would perform at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. The Houston rapper said he would do it for $50,000.
“Well, I love money. And I’m in America. And I was born in America. And I love money. So why wouldn’t I?” he said. “I’ve had enough money taken away from me by the Government, why shouldn’t I perform?”
The eccentric artist was also optimistic about Trump’s presidency. Riff Raff liked the idea of having lower taxes.
“Somebody told me Donald Trump is going to lower the taxes from 40 percent to 15 percent,” he said. “That’s 300,000 to 400,000 in my bank account personally. That’s a Lambo a year…money that I’ve been giving away to whoever it is. I don’t care if it’s pack of Starbursts that’s running for President.”
Riff Raff performing at a presidential inauguration sounds crazy, but the 2016 election showed that anything is possible. What used to be ridiculous is not shocking anymore.

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Shia LeBeouf, as everyone knows, recently made an incredibly intense inspirational video, complete with lots of yelling and emphatic hand gestures.

Naturally, then, James Franco made a parody trolling it — but instead of giving you life motivation, it’s about taking a dump. (Example: Instead of “Just do it,” Franco says “Just poo it.”)

You may actually need to watch the video twice, as it takes a keen mind to pick up on the subtlety of such wit.

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He’s spoken out about captive orcas, he’s pledged to help chimps and now animal lover and actor James Franco is partnering up with Farm Sanctuary to help farm animals.

The Oscar nominated actor appears in a new video for the organization that rescues abused farm animals and gives them a second chance at life
“It’s amazing to me how easily we can compartmentalize our relationships with animals. It’s easy to draw that distinction between the animals we eat like pigs, cows and lambs and animals that we live with like dogs and cats,” he explains in the video while images of the happy animals at the Farm Sanctuary fill the screen.

He goes on to talk about his own relationship to all animals and how to him, such a distinction does not exist.

“I can’t help but compare farm animals to my cats,” he says of Sammy and Zelda, his beloved felines. “I look into their eyes and realize they’re someone, not just something.”

But cats are not the only animals he’s looking at. Franco also says when a cow comes up to you and gives kisses, it’s just “incredible” and that’s the reason why he supports “Farm Sanctuary’s work to protect farm animals from cruelty and change the way society views and treats these incredible animals.”

He then urges people to check out Farm Sanctuary’s website and work because “at the end of the day, it’s all about compassion and a more compassionate world begins with you.”

We couldn’t have phrased it any better!

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