James Franco Is The Billionaire Boyfriend From Hell In The ‘Why Him?’ Trailer

Give James Franco some credit. We're about a decade into the provocateur phase of his career, and he's still managing to surprise us. The same artist who made an experimental movie vaguely about the gay leather scene, and who adapts William Faulkner novels into movies like it's a hobby, is now starring in an R-rated rom-com for a major Hollywood studio about an intense billionaire who terrorizes his girlfriend's parents. That's the basic setup for Why Him? which also stars Bryan Cranston as the highly skeptical father and rising star Zoey Deutch as the girlfriend.

Franco plays a shirtless, tatted-up billionaire tech bro named Laird Mayhew who lives his life with no filter. That means all kinds of swearing at inappropriate times and graphic sexual details at the dinner table. The movie takes place in Laird's high-tech mansion, which means there will be jokes about drones. The plot kicks into high gear when Laird reveals his plans to propose and is given a weekend to win Cranston's curmudgeon of a dad over. Will he or won't he? Find out on Christmas day when Why Him? hits theaters.

Watch the trailer above.