James Franco doesn’t approve of ‘Spider-Man’ reboot: “It was like, ‘Why?'”

James Franco

Here are some photos of James “AAART” Franco at the LA Art Show on Jan 22 because, you know, he’s all about art, even his butt. At the moment, James is sort of promoting his Sundance-premiered film, Interior. Dark Leather, which is documentary that “recreates” what supposedly happened during the off-reel, gay pr0n moments of the Al Pacino-starrer, Cruising. For what it’s worth (and I think it’s a lot), Pajiba’s Amanda Mae Meyncke didn’t enjoy the flick at all, but I’m sure that Franco would counter that she just didn’t comprehend his genius. Because, you know, his work only attracts criticisim from superficial critics who don’t like Franco “because [he] was in Spiderman.” Speaking of the famed web-slinging franchise, Franco has made it quite clear that he is in no way a fan of the reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man. The worst thing about Franco’s delusions? Other than Oz the Great and Powerful, James has nine other films in various stages of development and another six in development. So Hollywood has bought into his nonsense, and here are the details of Franco’s “smackdown” of the latest Spidey flick:

James Franco

It seems Spider-Man alum James Franco isn’t too keen about the recent relaunch of the web-slinging franchise starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

In an interview with MTV News, Franco (who played Peter Parker’s frenemy Harry Osborn in the series) is asked to share his thoughts on director Marc Webb’s follow up to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. His response was not exactly positive.

“Ehhhhh,” answered Franco with hesitation. “They could have strayed a little bit more from the original… It was like, ‘Why?'”

Both Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man series spin the tale of Peter Parker’s journey to becoming NYC’s crime-fighting vigilante, but Franco appears to imply that the team behind the reboot failed to get to the heart of the beloved tale, opting instead for profit over perfection.

“I guess they made a lot of money. Congrats. Good for them. Sam and I moved on. We made Oz.”

[From ET Online]

Well, of course. If James Franco isn’t in the new Spider-Man reboot, then it cannot possibly be worth of the “AART” label, can it? Poor Franco just can’t handle the thought of the franchise going on without him in tow as the “New Goblin.” I bet he secretly fantasized about how the two versions of the franchise could go all “meta” by seamlessly integrating him into both halves. Now that would be “AART,” but since the franchise (in Franco’s eyes) is merely financially successful, then the fact that Franco has “moved on” supposedly speaks for itself. Never mind that he’s moved onto an entirely CGI-created mess in Oz the Great and Powerful. Obviously, I just don’t understand the Franco artistry.

In other gross Franco-related news, the guy promises that he’ll someday be willing to have literal sex on film but only “under the right circumstances.” Thankfully, Shia LaBeouf has already cornered that disgusting market for all of us.

Here are some photos of Franco (on Sunday) leaving Los Angeles County Museum of Art, of course. I have no idea if the pretty blonde was with him, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she was.

James Franco

James Franco

James Franco

Photos courtesy of WENN

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49 Responses to “James Franco doesn’t approve of ‘Spider-Man’ reboot: “It was like, ‘Why?'””

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  1. Amelia says:

    This pains me to say it, but unfortunately, I think art-butt has a point.
    The Spidey reboot sucked (imo) and it seemed a little too soon for a revamp. It’s been what, less than ten years?
    But still – p*ss off Franco.

    • jinni says:

      I don’t like agreeing with him either, but he’s right. It was too soon after the last installment to do a new franchise, plus I was hoping that the new one would fail miserably so that Marvel might have a better chance at getting the rights back and the Marvel movie universe could use Peter Parker.

    • hmm says:

      I agree – don’t like Franco – But still I was a little early – But yeah Spiderman is a money machine.

    • carrie says:

      the new movie doesn’t suck but Sam Raimi’s version was better (directing,acting,script)

    • T.C. says:

      Hate to agree with Mr Pretenious douche but he is right. There was nothing new or interesting about the reboot. It was nothing but a shameless cash grab.

    • Fran says:

      Yep, same here. Don’t like him, but nowadays Hollywood is only about re-makes of nice movies..and the original one wasn’t even that old!!! A bit pointless!

    • Beatrix says:

      Glad so many people agree. That Garfield-Stone attempt was way too soon and wasn’t even good enough to justify itself.

      • HotPockets says:

        I came on here to say the exact same thing. I just watched the reboot and it wasn’t good. Andrew Garfield wasn’t likable as spider man and I definitely enjoyed the one with Toby much better. I guess I have to agree with James Franco..UGH.

    • The Original Mia says:

      He’s an ass, but he’s right. There was no point to the new Spidey except profit.

      • Chelsea's handler says:

        Wouldn’t that be the point of any super hero movie no matter when they’re done?

    • Nympha says:

      I’m with you all on that one. Too soon for a reboot, not so interesting either.

    • Micky says:

      lol I loved the old spiderman movie by Sam * minus the HORRIBLE 3rd movie* but I thought they did a good job following the story of Ulitmate Spiderman…I saw it twice, it was funny and the Lizard looked sick especially with his lab coat on those breif scenes lol maybe it was too soon but try looking at it as a different story not a reboot, cause it is. Sam was not filming the Ultimate story. Hopefully this new franchise can do the goblin and VENOM right this time!

  2. marie says:

    such. a. douche.

    he could (at one point) make a really intelligent statement but I can’t hear it/see it past the constant “douche, douche, douche, douche” that pops in my head anytime he’s involved.

  3. allons-y alonso says:

    A haiku that sums up my opinion of James Franco (cos he’s an arty pseudo intellectual)”

    “You are pretentious.
    No one wants to hear you talk,
    Please shut the f**k up’

  4. Chelsea's handler says:

    That cardigan looks like he slept outside in it.

  5. Sandy says:

    I don’t like Franco but I agree with him on the Spiderman reboot. The movie was boring and I nearly fell asleep. During the showing I went to some people left half way through. The first Spiderman was campy and fun, this one tried to be more serious and it failed. However, it did make a ton of money so there will be more on the way. Blah!

  6. Hubbahun says:

    GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!! (and take Anne with an E with you…)

  7. Ms Kay says:

    The Amazing Spider-Man was crap, the only good part of it was Rhys Ifans as the doctor, only in human shape not the crap CGI dinosaur-esque Lizard.

    Still, James Franco sucked as Harry (same for Kirsten Dunst who was annoying as hell in the role of MJ!) so it’s not like it’s that important what he has to say… And the whole “Sam and I have moved on” is so pretentious, who the hell does he think he is to speak for both?

  8. Ashling says:

    I felt the same way about the Spider-Man reboot. I also thought it was unbelievable that a high school student had such access to the company’s products…fake intern or not.

    I know hating on James Franco is the thing to do now, but I find his shenanigans amusing. He’s crazy and I enjoy watching him in movies. Planet of the Apes and 127 hours were good!

  9. Izzy says:

    Someday hopefully soon, this douchenozzle will wear out his Hollywood welcome by insulting one too many movies or actors.

    Also, is he wearing lifts?!

    • Dref22 says:

      My feelings exactly. I don’t have a strong negative/positive about this guy and these were all good flicks. He’s totally right about the Spidey reboot.

  10. lucy2 says:

    “It was like, why?” is pretty much what I say for everything he does.

  11. Cinnamon says:

    My husband liked the new spiderman better because the new spiderman character was more in sync with the personality of the comic book spiderman (more of a sarcastic geek than the sweet nerd that Tobey Maguire played)

    • evie says:

      I like the new one for the same reasons. Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Peter Parker was better than Tobey Maguire’s. TM is just a touch too whiny for my taste. Was it a home run movie? No, but it was enjoyable.

  12. Miss Kiki says:

    The new Spidey film left me slightly conflicted. It was certainly far too soon for a reboot how ever I did hear a rumour that the Columbia(?) were going to lose the rights if the didn’t make another film and Tobey etc had an ‘all of us or none of us’ type deal so they were left with no choice but to do a reboot.

    That aside though, Andrew Garfield for me was a better Spidey than Tobey and Emma Stone was a vast improvement on Dunst, who I always thought was a terrible choice for MJ. Choosing to do Gwen instead of MJ was also a win in my eyes. Rhys was good but one of the problems I’ve always had with Spiderman is that his rogues gallery is pretty poor, Rhino, Shocker, Morbius etc. The majority of them follow the same formula and within a film that’s going to get pretty boring pretty quickly.

    Over all even with understanding that the studio *had* to make this film I still could have done without it. Franco though as always has to be obnoxious about it, then he wonders why he’s only my shame f*ck.

  13. Nola says:

    He speaks truth. The reboot feels so redundant. The narrative was too similar to the last spidy trilogy and the beats were nothing new. Plus the sequel sounds like a whole lot of the same.

  14. serena says:

    I kind of hate to agree with him but this spider-man reboot was really awful.

  15. Crystal says:

    Ugh I can’t stand this pretentious fugbeast. He’s like the love child of Lena Dunham and Kristen Stewart with a hint of Goop thrown in there. Dude has no redeeming qualities.
    How is he still giving interviews ? Hasn’t he got 36 classes to go to and about 7 to teach ?

    He didn’t lie. I thought the reboot was awful even though I think Andrew is a better Spider-Man than Toby. James can have a seat though considering he made that travesty known as Spider-Man 3. LOL, mess. Why is this dude still around ? He’s overstayed his welcome already.

    • Miss Kiki says:

      Not Goop because I can’t help but find her hilarious. Everything else is spot on, especially Andrew being a better Spiderman than Toby.

  16. MrsBPitt says:

    Franco needs to go away and take his look alike, sound alike brother with him…I love the Rise of the Planet of the Apes movie, in spite of the fact that Franco barely phoned it in and looked like he thought he was too good to be in an Ape movie…I hope he won’t be in the sequel…

  17. stellalovejoydiver says:

    Oh Franco.
    “I guess they made a lot of money. Congrats. Good for them. Sam and I moved on. We made Oz.”
    That was so patronizing, someone who did Your Highness, Spring Breakers(I know Korine, but still) and Planet of the Apes, is modelling for Seven of a mankind jeans and Gucci is not in the position to judge whether someone´s motives are mainly monetary, but oh I forgot Franco eats, breathes and shits art.
    The did the reboot mainly because the didn´t want to lose the license, though, but still why does he need to give his opinion, he is always pressed when something he is not in is critically or commercially sucessful, like Girls.

    Also Oz looks like a fucking mess, I hope it bombs, I hope all of his movie bomb, so he disappears. Sucker.

    Dane de Haan will play the new Harry Osborne and he already is a ten times better actor than Terry´s best friend. On a side note I have a soft spot for Marc Webb simply, because he used to be the go to director for MCR, even though I never been a die hard fan or member of MCRmy, I really liked those videos and he did 500 days of Summer, which wins alone because it has Matthew Gray Gubler in it.

    • apsutter says:

      Yes, he is such a sellout the new Spiderman was so much better than that crap with Franco and Maguire. Oz looks like absolute shit. I refuse to watch any movie that is more than 50% cgi and Oz looks like everything but the actors is fake. Whats the point in that? I’d just play a video game or watch a Pixar movie if I wanted to look at computer animations.

  18. jamdown says:

    I am I the only one who actually liked spider man 3

    • Migdalia says:

      Nope I really liked it and was surprised it got so terribly panned. I mean yea it was pretty psychotic to put three major villains in one 2 hour movie, but I still liked it.

      Then again I feel like I’m the only one that liked Batman and Robin soooo….

  19. Thiajoka says:

    He should write a really long, rambling, weird, philosophical poem about this issue.

  20. Holden says:

    I totally agree with him, what’s the point in rebooting a film series that just rebooted 5 years earlier? It’s ridiculous.

    • Migdalia says:

      I heard it was so Sony could retain the rights which may explain why The Hulk keeps being resurrected, but sheesh how fast do these rights expire?

      • Lucrezia says:

        The contracts differ depending on which characters you’re talking about.

        Fox has to make an X-men flick every 4 years or the rights revert to Marvel.

        I’m not sure what the contract with Universal was, but they didn’t lose the the rights to the Hulk by not making films, Marvel simply bought them back. (They got them fairly cheaply, because Ang Lee’s Hulk was a flop.)

        Sony’s contract says they have to make a Spidey movie every 5 years. They chose to reboot instead of making a sequel because the original cast/crew weren’t contracted for a 4th movie and money that Sony couldn’t afford to pay. Rebooting with no-name actors was the cheaper option. It must have lost them viewers (I didn’t bother seeing it because it was too soon), but it was all they could afford. (Over the last 4 years, they’ve lost more than 11 billion USD!)

  21. Marion says:

    Oh James, James, James,

    I’ve always thought of you as the sexiest actor of my generation!
    Even with your freaky things I always would support you…
    But look at yourself now!
    You just cannot be photographed with your grandpa’s cardigan and shoes that we all know make you have stinky feet…

    You’re still young, so s*x it up!

  22. KellyinSeattle says:

    I don’t find him attractive; his legs are too short and remind me – remember Tim Conway and the golf spoof?

  23. Dommy dearest says:

    Um, the reboot is the origin story. You know, the one that Franco was not in. The Lizard was Parker’s first villain, not the Green Goblin nor the Hobgoblin. The original Spider-Man trilogy went for money as it exploited the most well known characters for it’s sales rather than giving the actual origin of Spider-Man.

    Just sayin.

  24. judyjudy says:

    Did he roll around in a pile of hay in that sweater?

  25. Ruffian9 says:

    Ruffian9 doesn’t approve of James Franco and his fluffy, fluffy cardigan. So there.

  26. Steph says:

    I completely agree with him! A remake of a movie that isn’t old doesn’t make any sense.

    So my question is, if they are going to remake movies that are only a few years old, where does it stop? Am I going to see remakes of movies that came out last year this year?