Bryan Cranston is set to co-star with James Franco in the upcoming 21 Laps and 20th Century Fox comedy Why Him? after Franco was informed that he cannot, in fact, play every character in the movie. (He’ll get some practice playing two roles in one project in HBO’s The Deuce, though.) I Love You, Man director John Hamburg is attached to direct Why Him?, which he’s co-writing with Ian Helfer. Ben Stiller is attached to produce.
Why Him?—a question some of us might ask ourselves every time James Franco announces yet another new project—is set over the holidays and follows a Midwestern dad (presumably played by experienced dad-portrayer Cranston, even though the character list hasn’t been made official) who travels with his family to visit his daughter at college. There, he winds up getting in a competition with her new tech billionaire boyfriend (presumably played by Franco, unless this movie is really trying to mess with expectations), because this particular Midwestern dad, like most Midwestern dads, has zero chill.
Cranston and Franco are already working together on Franco’s latest directorial effort, a film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s In Dubious Battle. Everyone knows Franco is one of Hollywood’s busiest workaholics, but Cranston is also keeping a packed schedule in his post-Breaking Bad era. He can next be seen in Trumbo—based on the life of Donald Trumbo—on November 6, and he’ll reprise his Tony-award winning role as President Lyndon Johnson in the HBO adaptation of All The Way, which also stars Bradley Whitford and Anthony Mackie.