James Franco Blasts Spring Breakers Sequel on Instagram

Look, in no universe does there NEED to be a Spring Breakers: The Second Coming…

Love it or hate it (and there are plenty of moviegoers in both camps), the first Spring Breakers was a wholly original, fiercely idiosyncratic work by director Harmony Korine.  Couple that very singular vision with a fairly close-ended story and the hallucinatory comedy-drama-cautionary-tale in no way lends itself to sequel talk…unless Korine himself has a Part 2 in him.

But Spring Breakers producers Chris and Roberta Hanley feel differently — and as the controllers of the SB property, they’re fully within their rights to hire director Jonas Akerlund (Spun) and Transpotting novelist Irvine Welsh to bring a proposed sequel to the screen — even if Korine has no connection or consent over the production.

That idea isn’t sitting well with James Franco, however.

According to Crave film site Cinema Blend, the actor, whose portrayal of rapper-drug dealer-serious wingnut Alien was the thumping engine of Korine’s original, took to his Instagram account Wednesday to rip the new film, specifically the decision to push the movie forward without any involvement by Korine.

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.

Well, relegating the movie sight unseen to “terrible film” territory is gonna get you a response — and Chris Hanley was quick to oblige.  Hanley told Variety;

“Let’s see if I can remember all of the sequels James has done. “‘The Great and Mighty Oz,’ ‘Spider Man,’ ‘Planet of the Apes’…and he’s pushing hard to help set up the ‘Pineapple Express’ sequel. I guess he thinks only ‘too big to fail studio films’ are the artistically valid ventures…These aren’t weak or lame artists and I think our track record speaks for itself.”

So, don’t expect that Alien cameo in the sequel — as if the original film didn’t put enough of an exclamation point on Franco’s character.

Hanley rips Franco for playing the Hollywood sequel game, but doesn’t really address his main issue: that a Spring Breakers sequel is happening without the primary creative force that made the property worthy of another chapter in the first place.

But no matter whose side you’re on, strap in…Hanley’s Muse Productions is currently drumming up financing for the film and you can likely expect Spring Breakers: The Second Coming to begin production in the coming months.