James Franco to star in The Predator? According to the latest episode of Meet the Movie Press, James Franco’s agency Creative Artists Agency is pushing for Franco to be cast in Shane Black’s The Predator.
This rumor comes via Jeff Sneider (of The Wrap) who had previously mentioned (although it wasn’t widely reported) that Shane Black had his eyes on several actors who had appeared in the Batman films.
Apparently, it was Ben Affleck that Shane Black was after (with Christan Bale and Tom Hardy as second choices) but Affleck passed. According to Sneider, CAA are pushing for James Franco to star as McKenna, the lead in The Predator. Although Franco is apparently not one of Black’s top choices, he is supposedly high on CAA’s list for this casting and as such are pushing him for the role. The discussion takes place at around 27:30 in the video below.
Sneider had also mentioned that Bradley Cooper had also been approached about a role but had passed on the opportunity. If these rumors are indeed true, it would appear Fox and Shane Black have their eyes on big A-listers to lead the cast of The Predator.
James Franco to Star in The Predator?
Previous to this, the only other news we’ve heard about the casting of The Predator was that Curtis Jackson had said he would be appearing in the film and that Arnold could possibly appear. What do you think of the possibility of James Franco in the starring role of the new Predator film? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks to Heroic Hollywood and Ed Arent for the news.
And how do you know Predators would stop coming to Earth if their existence was public knowledge there? How do you know that they wouldn't like the extra challenge? What is it with these fans who think they have all the answers when the movies haven't actually provided much information?
What group can't? Predators can but they won't. And if Predators are aware humans know of them and track them on Earth, they'll simply stop coming to Earth.
Wasn't really a fair fight if he was high as all hell.
They hunt Xenomorphs for fun
Yes because that would be too threatening for them.
So what? Predators would simply adapt to the fact humans now know of their existance, and they'll always have more advanced technology.
And another important thing. Predators prefer to be hidden. If their presence is suddenly well known to humans, they'd stop hunting. They're not going all out on humans, they just want a nice, quiet hunt. Humans knowing about Predators and Predators still continuing their hunt would mean a flat out war, and I don't think Predators want a war.
Intel plays a lot into how someone (or in this case; something) executes threats. If you have soldiers that have no insight in what they are up against obviously they aren't going to fair well against it.
Hence why Royce Da Girlie Man was so successful in fighting them off. He was able to inform himself of their tactics and use it. That is the THREAT not physique.
Look, no human can be a threat to a Predator. It doesn't matter if it's Dutch or the Godfather, they can't hurt him unless the Predator deliberately makes himself weaker to have more fun.
Yes, I can see the Predator having fun in killing the Godfather, and even the president of the US, which would be impressive to get his skull after going through insane levels of security to get to him. Though that would imply the Predator is aware of political surroundings, which sounds too boring for a Predator to deal with.
It's not about finding a match to fight with one on one, no human can pose a threat like that. It's about finding a trophy that means something, like a well trained soldier, mob boss, etc. People who pose a threat to others, who are considered dangerous, that's a good hunt for the Predator.
So being a respected mob boss instantly equates to fantastic fighting prowess? Does that mean US presidents are all a bunch of Rambos, or that Marlon Brando's character in the Godfather movies could fight a Predator mano a mano?
(2 seconds later)
"AAAAHHHH!!!!"
He was so wasted in Homefront. He had a great character that filmmakers just used as another punching bag for Statham.
They will not cast James Franco!
King Willie was a well respected mob boss. He was on top of the gang and therefore a worthy trophy.
Glover proved himself by driving into the heat of the action and taking out a bunch of thugs on his own. That's how he got the Predator's attention. The rest got killed to taunt Glover more and more, to make him frustrated and angry.
I don't see that happening with Franco at all. But if he's a detective behind the scenes working out what's going on and what the Predator is, I could buy into that.
King Willie in P2 was a middle-aged man armed only with swords. The City Hunter still thought him a good trophy. And Harrigan, played by the "unfit" Danny Glover, was the one the City Hunter deemed it's most worthy prey. Also, what did Jerry Lambert do besides empty a gun at it then swing a machete? Oh yeah, he threw his badge at the Predator. Quite a badass feat. But he ended up a trophy anyway.
Many fans really do seem to assume Predators are incredibly picky about their prey. But I think trying to take a stand against it, even if it completely fails, impresses a Predator enough to make a trophy out of someone's skull. Basically any prey it has a one on one confrontation with.
Doesn't discriminate between men, women, animals. But you do have to stand out to him as a valuable trophy. Otherwise he'd just be killing everyone on sight.
I was a little shaky about Adrien Brody for the same reason but he nailed it.
I like the possible change from muscle man to Everyman.
The Rodriguez supaaah predators are not our regular true predators, so their habits shouldn't be relevant , I don't see
a classic predator interested by Topher Grace character.
As for James Franco, I think they're just kidding us.I don't picture this wimp involved as a lead character.
I really don't think it's just down to physical prowess. We saw that to a degree in Predators. They don't have to be muscle bound Olympians to be dangerous.
Frank Grillo I 100% agree. Guy is amazing in every film he does.
I like the potential casting of Franco. I give him props for always stepping into different types of roles. Guy even did a soap opera for God's sake lol.
I like Affleck but more as a director. I didn't see Batman v Superman yet (and probably won't) so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt though.
I actually think his bro Casey is better in front of the camera.
And being big does play a role. Just look at how much the Predator abused Dutch and he was still able to crawl away.
But we're all assuming the main character fights the Predator. I have a hunch our main character won't be facing the Predator directly.
I guess i should have elaborated a bit because i never said that Dutch was able to match the Pred but you keep bringing that up for some reason.
I said that i want the dude taking on the pred to appear to be a bit of challenge. Dutch looks like he can kick butt but we end up finding out that he is not. That's a smart thing the movie portrays. These huge men were nothing against the pred.
Did i say otherwise?
Yeah, it's clear that i would prefer a bigger guy but at what point did i claim no feat is unrealistic for them?
When did it say that?
I just said i want the dude facing him to appear to be a challenge.
..... are you James Franco?
Pick Seth Rogen, the other Franco brother, Channing Tatum and Zac Efron also and just do a copy of Predator 2.
And such an even fight that was. An old woman could hurt a young man with her bare hands more than Dutch hurt the Predator. Dutch's punch wasn't even like a scratch, but more like a very light tap on the Predator's face.
Dutch's smarts is why the Predator thought him a worthy adversary, and why he won.
Honestly, this argument boils down to people favoring big men, to such an extent that no feat is unrealistic for them. A guy like James Franco defeating a Predator, even if it's strictly through traps and weapons, will be deemed unrealistic, only because he's not a hoss, even though that's exactly how Dutch won.
After all, only big men are allowed unrealistic feats of strenght (sarcasm). Not smaller men, and especially not women.
But we should all be sure that Dutch's training made so he could take the abuse that he was handed down.
The point is that in the movie Dutch was picked as a target was because he was a good specimen. The Pred took his mask off to face him in an even fight. As even as it was going to get.
While I would've vastly preferred Affleck or Cooper, I think Franco would be a fine choice. He's better than most of the actors in the Predator series. I'm holding out hope that Ryan Gosling will star. He'd be amazing. Yeah he's filming Blade Runner 2, but push filming back to October or November and you'd be good.
And once again, some people fail to realize that Arnie's physical prowess didn't mean squat against the Predator. Hell, I'm sure a human lightweight's punch could hurt a human heavyweight a lot more than Arnie's punch hurt the Predator, if you can call it hurt.
Short of physical and/or technological enhancements, a human can only defeat a Predator by outsmarting it.
So what exactly is the point of picking a skinny dude?
Come on! If the Predator is going to be taken out by a human lets make the human into a bit of a challenge.
I think Franco would make a good crazed paranoid detective who lives in a tiny messy apartment, stinks of cigerettes and booze and looks like he hasn't slept in a week.
I agree. Although I have no doubt it will be actionpacked, it won't be the kind of actionscenes we're used to from a Predator film.
He delivered a good performance in the apes remake. I couldn't see him as a soldier type though.
I have mixed feelings about Franco. He can be such a talented dramatic actor when he wants to be but he's also a guy who has been roasted on comedy central and is known for being a bit odd at times.
I really hope Black gets a supporting cast that skyrockets the film's popularity. Shame Affleck and Cooper passed but I'm holding out hope for some other big names.
As much as I would like to see Dwyane Johnson square off against a Prefator, I think this could be interesting. Predator was very much a Schwarzenegger film and the director capitalized on the action hero popularity at the time, and Schwarzenegger rose to popularity after Terminator 1 and Commando in 84 and 85.
To make Predator popular for the average person now Shane Black has to cast a more average looking cast that people in this generation know and can relate to.
Maybe James Franco won't be battling the Predators directly like Arnold did, but maybe he is more of an intelligence officer or detective trying to learn about them.
I think this film will be more focused on story line, plot, and character development instead of just a platoon in a jungle fighting an alien. I think Shane Black wants to develop the characters more and the story of the Predator society to make it exciting. This could possibly set up for a sequel if done right, and possibly tie it into other parts if the same universe like aliens and the engineers.
My short list would be:
Dwayne Johnson
Ray Stevenson (Punisher War zone)
Karl Urban (Dredd, Doom)
Who says you cant have an a-lister like James Franco playing a less physical role sich as a detective or government agent trying to piece together the puzzle about the Predators. Combine with someone like Dwyane Johnson or Ray Stevenson taking on the Predator in the physical role.
Predators made money and received good reviews, it helped the franchise just a tad. Not by an significant proportion though. And again, Blake is different from Antal. It's ok though. If someone doesn't understand this, it's because they choose not to.
And Xan, who says it wasn't cool to be considered for a JP film? That's baseless and without merit. When you're working with the likes of Ridley Scott and Shane Black, it doesn't matter if 20 bad entries preceded the next entry if it's by such master filmmakers. So with that thinking, Bale, Freeman, Caine and Neeson should've declined Batman Begins because of Batman & Robin and Batman Forever.
I like how they've been casting less expected actors since P2. Danny Glover, Adrien Brody, and now possibly James Franco. Much more interesting choices than the Rock and Vin Diesel, so-called Arnie types that together still wouldn't be half as charismatic as Arnie. Imo, the only actors that are as charismatic are mostly guys just as old as Arnie or only a few years younger. Basically, P1 can't be recreated by simply casting any muscle man in the lead role.