James Franco Slams Spring Breakers Sequel: “It Will Be A Terrible Film”
"This is not being done with Harmony Korine or my consent. "
Last week, Paris-based distribution company Wild Bunch announced they would be producing an entirely un-asked-for sequel to Harmony Korine’s unforgettably weird Spring Breakers in co-production with Muse Production, who owned the rights. The film would be written by Irvine Welsh and directed by Jonas Akerlund (Spun), featuring a mixture of “old and new” cast of Spring Breakers as they “do battle with an extreme militant Christian sect that attempts to convert them.”
The announcement landed on the internet like a handful of wet toilet paper, as Spring Breakers fans and haters broke down the neon-clad walls that divided them to together lament the existence of what would no-doubt be a pretty crap film.
There were heaps of Tweets like this:
spring breakers was shit
— bbysav (@savgoldstein) May 15, 2014
Earlier this week, notorious say-haver James Franco had his say, reviving his character Alien for a short but compelling Instagram film of himself eating a rice crispy.
The film, narrated by a woman who explained he was hungover, was tellingly titled, “”ALIEN IN REHAB! And BTW F*** that SBers 2 BS, they’re doing it without HARMONY’s CONSENT. Sounds LAME AS A MUTHA!”
Wonderful. But apparently, not enough.
Overnight, Franco hit out at the film again over Instagram, posting a photo of himself wearing an Iggy Pop t-shirt and a grim expression. It was accompanied by the following text:
“STATEMENT ABOUT SPRING BREAKERS 2: This is not being done with Harmony Korine or my consent. The original was wholly Harmony’s creation and these producers are capitalizing on that innovative film to make money on a weak sequel. I want everyone to know that whoever is involved in the sequel is jumping on board a poison ship. It will be a terrible film, with a horrible reason d’être: to make money off someone else’s creativity. Can you imagine someone making the sequel to “Taxi Driver” without Scorcese and DeNiro’s consents? Insanity! I’m speaking up for Harmony and his original vision and for any creative person who cares about preserving artistic integrity.”
Which, if you take out the part where he compares himself to DeNiro, is kind of a fair point.