There was a time when it was hard to imagine being excited for a “Planet of the Apes” movie. When “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” came out three years ago to rave reviews and became a box office success, surely nobody could have seen it coming. Now, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is just a few months away, and it’s pretty safe to say that it’s the most anticipated film in the franchise. Still, while buzz surrounding the film is definitely strong, not everyone is particularly thrilled about what will appear on screen.
James Franco may be involved in a plethora of projects on a yearly basis, almost annoyingly so, but if you happen to see him appear in the upcoming ‘Apes’ film, you will be just as surprised as he is. Franco, of course, was the star of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” but he was not expected to appear in the upcoming sequel which takes place years after the events of the first movie. According to Entertainment Weekly, in their summer preview issue, while Franco’s character Will Rodman has been wiped out by a virulent plague along with most of humanity, he will still be making a posthumous cameo. Franco, believe it or not, had no knowledge of such cameo.
“Wait, I have a cameo? I didn’t know that,” said Franco to EW. “You know, I don’t even think they asked my permission to do that.”
So, how did this bit of information slip by the actor? That’s anyone’s guess. Let’s hope it’s just some weird misunderstanding. You can check out James Franco’s unauthorized cameo, along with Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, and Jason Clarke, when “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” comes out on July 11th. New pics below via HeyUGuys.
like tehs movie
Stop spoiling everything, assholes…
You're all being Franco'ed. He knew about the cameo. Denying it & you guys believing he's serious is one of the greatest pranks Franco has ever pulled.
… or something.
And then there's the even tricker thing if Franco didn't sign on for sequels, but that his cameo in this film is made up from footage that he shot for Rise. That could be tricky, since even though that footage wasn't used in Rise, it may have been SHOT for Rise, and he may have signed a contract that binds his image to what is shot, with no restrictions on what the footage can be used for–which isn't defined so much so that marketing can use footage for their thing to their hearts' content without getting a headache, since trailers are separate legal entities from the film itself. Basically, nobody's really figured out hard laws yet that deal with using original film footage for future films, what constitutes original footage (intention vs actual use) or the specifics of how much of a cut of profits you get if a project you sold is turned into multiple projects (like with The Hobbit and that whole Weinstein-suing-thing). Ah well.
In Crispin Glover's case, I don't know if they were in the habit of doing those kinds of deals back then. They still did them–Mark Hamill signed one for the Star Wars sequels when the original one did really well–but I don't know if it was as common. They do that for like every major actor in a tentpole movie nowadays though.
Like with many tentpole/franchise films, Franco might have signed a contract for the first film that binds him to multiple films, which would cover them to use his image in sequels.
Although then there's the question of whether they even did that–if Franco did sign away his image, then why did he look concerned that they didn't get his permission? Hmmm….
Whoops! Sued and won for being used without permission.
Better be careful…Crispin Glover sued (and won) for being used in Back to the Future II and/or III.