Zeroville

Zeroville follows Vikar, a film-obsessed young man who arrives in Hollywood in 1969 with a shaved head and a tattoo of Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. An architecture student by training, he is drawn into an industry in the middle of enormous change, as the old studio system gives way to a new generation of directors and the culture around him turns to sex, drugs and rock and roll. Eccentric figures such as the surfer-hippie Viking Man, the starlet Soledad Paladin and the editor Dotty Langer cross his path as he tries to find a place for himself in the movies.

James Franco directs and stars as Vikar, working from a screenplay by Ian Olds and Paul Felten. The cast includes Megan Fox, Seth Rogen, Joey King, Jacki Weaver and Dave Franco, with dozens of credited performers and crew. The film was made for about 12 million dollars by Rabbit Bandini Productions.

It arrived in 2019 as the ninth feature Franco had directed, after Good Time Max, As I Lay Dying, Venice 70: Future Reloaded, In Dubious Battle, The Disaster Artist, The Institute, Tenn and Future World. Audience response has been muted: on IMDb it holds 4.6 out of 10 from roughly 3,900 votes, and on TMDB 5 out of 10 from a small set of ratings, while a film critics' rating of 4.2 out of 10 from 30 reviews puts reviewers slightly below viewers.