20th Century Fox has announced that Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad,” Godzilla) will co-star with James Franco (Pineapple Express, The Interview) in the comedy Why Him.
The film takes place over the holidays as a Midwestern dad (Cranston) travels with his family to visit his daughter at college, and soon finds himself in a bitter rivalry for her affections with her new, brash tech billionaire boyfriend (Franco).
John Hamburg (I Love You Man, Along Came Polly) will direct Why Him from a script he co-wrote with Ian Helfer (The Oranges). The film is produced by Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps and Ben Stiller’s Red Hour, with production set to begin in Los Angeles in February.
Cranston just worked with Franco as his director in the John Steinbeck adaptation In Dubious Battle, and will next be seen as legendary screenwriter Dalton Trumbo in Jay Roach’s biopic Trumbo. He will then reprise his Broadway role of Lyndon B. Johnson in Roach’s HBO original film “All the Way” opposite Anthony Mackie.
