Actor James Franco has reappeared on the movie scenes and movie festival carpets after remaining out of the public glare for several years. It can be recalled that Franco was a Hollywood top player. However, his career halted as a result of a significant legal polemic in 2018. But at the moment, in 2025, it seems as though he’s trying to restore his professional life step by step—starting from indie films and international works.
Guess what that guy has been busy with, where he has been hanging out, and what the industry thinks of his comeback.
Georgia-Shot Movie
During the last days of March 2025, James Franco was a participant in the filming of a new untitled comedy in Athens, Georgia. The source of this information was local media, which had reported that the said film involved a scene at a festival with an Oktoberfest theme.
In the company of William H. Macy, Franco is also starring in the film, which is being put together by the Georgia-based producer Alexander Kane who has already sent out notices calling for extras. The film’s genre is rumored to be comedy, but only a few facts about the plot are known.
The project was one of the most recent endeavours of Franco, which he personally appeared in the US after his legal issues had subsided.
Bunny-Man A New Superhero Comedy
It was announced in November 2024 that Franco would be taking part in a superhero comic movie called Bunny-Man. The movie from Italy features the acting of Franco and the remnants of the team Mike Tyson, Bella Thorne, Michele Morrone, and Franco Nero also make up the cast.
The main character is a millionaire who puts on a rabbit suit and gets into the illegal actions business in an effort to seek revenge. The genres assigned to the film are a mixture of black humor, satire, and the action thriller.
Bunny-Man is currently going through post-production and is set to hit theaters at the end of 2025 both in Europe and the U.S.
Hey Joe at the Rome Film Festival Appearance
Franco made an unexpected appearance at the Rome Film Festival in October 2024 for the premiere of his movie Hey Joe.
He is the person who unknowable character Benjamin a soldier who comes to Naples of the 1970s after WWII and gets engaged in looking for his son. The movie is a dramatic journey of bad memory, trauma, and his role as a father.
Although Franco did not expose himself to the public, the movie gained favorable critical reviews. It was his first large public appearance in more than three years.
Seth Rogen’s Silence on Franco
Even though Franco was unobtrusive about his return to movie production, he and Seth Rogen, his longtime friend and collaborator, are still not in good terms.
On April 2, 2025, Rogen was a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show where he commented on his friendships from his role in the Freaks and Geeks. He omitted a significant person when he communicated with the present co-stars but was careful not to touch upon the topic of Franco.
Rogen and Franco starred together in two previous films, Pineapple Express and The Interview, though they severed relationships on subsequent projects when Franco was exposed to several allegations of inappropriate behavior. More women came out with allegations against him in 2018. Rogen did not only separate himself from Franco but also explained it publicly and has not worked with Franco to date.
Judicial Records and Rejection from the Public
While back in 2021, Franco paid off over 2 million U.S. dollars to end a class-action lawsuit from ex-students of the acting school he had closed and with whom he had sexual relations unlawfully.
According to the trial, Franco was charged with the offense of using improper behavior while teaching filmmaking classes and was involved in the allegations of blackmail. No admission of guilt but resolution of the charges was the basis of the settlement for Franco.
Professionally, the legal issue led to the actor’s career suffering, and, consequently, he lost jobs, left companies, and closed his acting academy.
Is Hollywood Ready for a Franco Comeback?
The film industry is in two minds as to whether Franco’s comeback will be good or bad. Smaller companies, following a successful independent filmmaker’s example, are willing to wait and see how he is going to act, but the larger companies are still wary of their involvement.
On the other hand, the participation of his in Bunny-Man and other international film shoots still shows that he is not left unnoticed in other territories’ film industry. Besides, his film Hey Joe emerged as quite good and had a rating among the audiences, albeit, on the one hand, there were the people who called for the person’s responsibility, but there were also those who questioned if the celebrity should be forever out of the limelight.
The actor is very careful yet fully capable apart from being certain of his return to the industry in 2025. He makes sure to meet the local people, attend film festivals, and only appear in ensemble films, which helps him to be recognized slowly but surely.
Though there is a lot of controversy surrounding Franco, he appears to be trying to get back into the entertainment world in a more gentle way— apart from the media, without the loud cheers, and most probably, by making a change in the spotlight.
When Franco’s 2025 project information is gradually coming out, you can expect to get informed about the release dates, reviews, and see people’s reaction to the said film in the festival.
