Jon Amiel ( Copycat, Entrapment ) will direct James Franco in the thriller Mace ,
which will mark the actor’s return to film after a forced hiatus due to allegations of harassment that have engulfed him.
The film will focus on two very different policemen: on the one hand Mace (Franco), a veteran agent, corrupt and dangerously out of control.
On the other, Virgin Woods, a young recruit who believes she can change the system from within. Inspired by the incidents of racial injustice that have engulfed America, Virgin clashes with Mace in the name of his princes, risking everything to stop the corrupt colleague after the latter unleashes a gang war to cover up his crimes.
David Chisholm ( The Little Great Gaming Wizard ) wrote the script. Lawrence Steven Meyers, Randy Dannenberg and John Evangelides will produce. Mace will be produced by Meyers Media Group. The film is currently in pre-production; filming is expected to start in the coming months in New Jersey. The project will be presented at the Cannes market.
Kirk D’Amico , CEO of Myriad Pictures, said:
We are happy to return to Cannes with this highly original and unique film. It’s a raw story set in a police department today, where nothing is what it seems. We believe that this material, in the hands of such an experienced director as Jon Amiel, will produce extraordinary results.
The James Franco affair
James Franco retired from the scene for a while, to handle the matter and make amends. Last December he confessed in a lengthy interview on SiriusXM , in which he admitted using his reputation as “bait” to have sex with schoolgirls. And he talked in detail about the addiction to sex that led him to the behaviors he later denounced, and about the addiction from work, which prompted him to continue obsessively directing independent films so as not to have to be alone with himself.