Meet Hollywood's Newest Bad Guy: James Franco's Brother?

A little burned out on the James Franco news? Maybe his brother can help take a load off?

By EOL Staff Apr 08, 2011 9:49 PMTags
Dave FrancoMichael Caulfield/WireImage

Is James Franco fatigue setting in? Do you grow weary of hearing about the Oscar-nominated actor's next artistic or academic endeavor?

Maybe it's time for a replacement Franco. One who can engage your mind as the villain in a big-screen remake of a classic late-'80s TV show. Lucky for you, James' younger brother, Dave Franco, is stepping up to fill that need. So where can we catch this up-and-coming star?

According to Deadline, the younger Franco is set to star in the Jonah Hill-scripted revamping of 21 Jump Street. He'll be putting those Franco-family genes to good use as he plays Eric, the most popular kid in school. But he also happens to be a major drug dealer, a key point Hill and his narc buddy Channing Tatum intend to exploit as they infiltrate the crowd of cool kids up to no good.

Though with their ages (Hill's 28, Tatum's 31), they might have a more believable chance at this point if they went undercover as guidance counselors. (At least Johnny Depp was only 24 when he scoped things out the first time around back in 1987.) But hey, it works for Cory Monteith.

Franco will turn 26 in June, so he should be fine. And in fact, with his previous work in Scrubs, Greek and Privileged, he doesn't seem to have any problem pulling off the younger roles. But can he do evil? We know his brother can, thanks to that star run on General Hospital as the nefarious and murderous Franco.

Only one thing is still up in the air about this remake: Will Depp be making a cameo? Fingers crossed.