Erm, James Franco’s ‘alien’ footage has one bizarre detail that doesn’t add up

James Franco has everyone talking again after sharing footage of what he claims to be an alien in his back yard – but one thing about his bizarre TikTok video isn’t making sense. 

For the uninitiated, Franco – whose Hollywood career was derailed in 2018 after a series of sexual misconduct allegations were made against him – started the TikTok account JamesFranco2319 last month. 

He’s been posting a series of odd videos wearing a t-shirt with a pause symbol taped onto it alongside the written name “Bruce Robins”, where he rambles about “some serious sh*t going on” and his fears of being spied on. 

Ultimately, the cryptic clips are centered on him tracking alien activity at his home. While some viewers initially suspected mental health issues, others suggest it’s an elaborate stunt to promote his new movie. 

Franco is starring in Love Meets in the Sunshine, an upcoming road-trip comedy, which is one of three accounts he’s following – alongside Christian Guiton, the film’s director, and Shayne Davis, an actor who’s been working with Franco. 

Why the James Franco ‘alien’ footage doesn’t make sense

All of the videos have been leading up to his latest in which he presents the supposed alien footage. But there’s one part of this whole thing that makes no sense: if this is all just a ruse to promote his next movie, why aliens?

@jamesfranco2319

The day is here. 7/13 7:13 more footage dropping soon.

♬ original sound – James Franco

Love Meets in the Sunshine is a dramedy road-trip film about a terminally ill man who convinces a grumpy drifter to drive him across the desert to find a doctor. Unless there’s a rugpull twist, extraterrestrials have nothing to do with the plot. 

And yet, it’s the main focus for a majority of his TikToks, the latest showing James Franco telling viewers “the day is here, July 13th”. 

“I  promised you I was gonna reveal something because I found something. It was thrust upon me. I didn’t ask for this,” he says, arguing that he’s been through a lot and he didn’t want to have to talk about this. 

But he allegedly “saw something” and felt he couldn’t “keep this quiet.” The Pineapple Express star says he’s been called “crazy” and that his account “got hacked twice,” claiming people are trying to silence him. 

“I need to get this out for that very reason that people are trying to stop me,” he continues, saying he owes it to his fans. “I’m putting my money where my mouth is.”

Finally, he opens his laptop to reveal what he’s been hyping up for the past month: grainy, black-and-white footage of an alien-like figure roaming in his garden before approaching the window of his home. 

When it’s finished, he closes the laptop and says, “Okay? Enough said,” but frankly, it looks more like a human wearing a mask than an extraterrestrial. 

Clearly, the viewers agree, with one writing, “This has been analysed by Google Gemini and there’s 0% chance it’s an actual alien.”

“You are trolling us, definitely,” said another, while a third added, “If this is a promotion I swear to god…”

Amazingly, some are convinced by the clip, with one person saying, “I actually believe you. That video looks crazy. Where is the alien now? Stay safe!” Another commented, “I see orbs so it’s not impossible.”

Love Meets in the Sunshine director addresses the situation

On the theory that this is all just to promote Love Meets in the Sunshine, director Christian Guiton has spoken about the situation in a couple of his own TikTok videos where he claims he has nothing to do with the saga. 

@christianguiton

We’re all waiting for 7/13 @James Franco

♬ original sound – christianguiton

In his latest post on Franco, Guiton said, “ I talked to James last night and he says he has footage of this alien… I don’t know. Please stop attacking me. I don’t get much more information than what you guys have on TikTok.

“But I did talk to him last night and he’s like, ‘7/13, 7/13.’ So I don’t know. I don’t know what it means. I’m assuming July 13th.”

“Let’s just wait and see what he has… if he has anything. He could pull up on 7/13 and show us a Pop-Tart. I don’t know. If he does, don’t get mad at me. I have nothing to do with this,” he added. 

Despite his protests, some fans think the director is in on the gag too. “You’re so clearly in on it,” said one. “I’m here for it.”

But if the goal really is to drum up interest in Love Meets in the Sunshine, it still doesn’t make sense why it’s about aliens – a subject that has nothing to do with the story. 

Well, what we do know is that the bizarre videos have generated far more conversation than a regular promo campaign ever could. Franco’s first video has 13.6 million views at the time of writing, while the alien footage has 1.4 million views in just one day. 

Maybe it doesn’t matter that the content isn’t related. As one commenter wrote, “Take notes people, it’s a brilliant way to create a tremendous amount of traffic on your social media accounts while literally giving up no useful information.”

For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page.

Featured image credit: TikTok/@jamesfranco2319