Director denies James Franco's weird TikToks are movie promo while promoting their new movie

Ryan ColemanTue, June 16, 2026 at 10:06 PM UTC

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James Franco on TikTokCredit: James Franco/TikTokKey Points -

James Franco has joined TikTok to release a series of unsettling videos in which he swears he's "not promoting anything."

Franco wears a shirt with the name "Bruce Robinson" scrawled on the front in the videos, wherein he asks for help addressing "some serious s---."

Fans have pointed to the fact that Franco's new account only follows two others — the upcoming film Love Meets in the Sunshine and its director, Christian Guiton.

What is going on with James Franco? Maybe just another job.

The former A-lister, who retreated from Hollywood for five years after settling a sexual misconduct lawsuit from former students of his acting school, has already made his comeback of sorts, appearing in international films like Claudio Giovannesi's 2024 drama Hey Joe and small genre pics like 2025's Bunny-Man.

But in the wake of former close collaborator Seth Rogen saying he has "no plans" to work with Franco again, the 48-year-old appears to be gearing up for something special over on his new TikTok account, where he published his first video on June 3.

"Hey guys, this is James Franco. Me, really James Franco. I'm here at my house. I'm not promoting anything, okay? I'm making this account because some serious s--- is going on," Franco begins the first video, looking panicked and dressed in a ratty blue T-shirt decked out with two vertical strands of tape and the name "Bruce Robinson" scrawled across the front.

Franco's new followers were quick to flood into the comment section with their suspicions that there was more to the posts than the actor was letting on. Eagle-eyed TikTokers quickly deduced that Franco's new account is only following two others — the official account for an upcoming film titled Love Meets in the Sunshine and Christian Guiton, the film's director.

"James, respectfully, if this is marketing for a movie, gas is $5.00 and eggs are still expensive. We cannot afford to be getting played right now," one user wrote.

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to Guiton, and to a representative for Franco for comment.

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In subsequent videos, Franco moodily sauntering around a kitchen to trending audio, warns that "if I disappear, you know what happened," swears he's "not making it up," and talks about an "alien" he believes resides in his garage.

The official TikTok account for Love Meets in the Sunshine features behind-the-scenes clips of Franco and others shooting scenes, while the film's Instagram touts news of Franco's casting.

Seth Rogen and James Franco at the 'Pineapple Express' premiere in 2008Credit: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

The comedy costarring Cloud 9 co-founder Nick Antonyan and KISS frontman Gene Simmons wrapped in November, per Deadline Hollywood.

The logline reads as follows: "After a chance encounter, a terminally ill ball of sunshine (Franco) talks a grumpy drifter (Antonyan) into driving him across the desert to meet a maybe-real doctor (Forrie J. Smith). What should be a quick trip becomes a wild, chaotic and heartwarming ride that changes them in ways neither saw coming."

In a June 5 TikTok, Guiton noted that he "spoke with James" about his odd first few videos, but the actor "didn't give me much. He was just like, 'I found something... and everyone needs to know.'" Guiton even pointed out the fact that Franco only follows him and Sunshine, and then points out that, despite promising the videos aren't promo, "now I'm doing promo."

"It's not a science fiction movie. It's not a conspiracy movie. If I was promoting Sunshine, this is not how we would do it," Guiton said.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”