James Franco has been known to pop up in some weird places, but I don't think anyone expected him to be part of the Alien: Covenant cast. But that's what is happening and it gives him a chance to reunite with his pal Danny McBride, although I don't think they'll be getting high in quite the same way they did in Your Highness.
According to AvP Galaxy, a site that's pretty good when it comes to Alien and Predator news, Franco has a role in Alien: Covenant, the sequel to Prometheus. So what does his part entail? Well, that's a bit spoilery so beware from this point on.
So it turns out the Rise of the Planet of the Apes star's agents were really pushing for him to be in Shane Black's The Predator sequel, but that never panned out. Instead, he'll be in a film featuring the Predator's rival, which has a nice bit of symmetry to it I think. Franco will play Branson, the captain of the Covenant ship and the husband to Katherine Waterston's character. He won't be sticking around for long, though. Apparently he's only in the first 10 minutes and seen sporadically from then on, which suggests he might have an alien bursting out of his chest early.
This is pretty cool. My hope is that his character survives and can take part in future movies, but I doubt it. Alien: Covenant opens May 19th 2017 with Michael Fassbender starring as the androids David and Walter.
