Everything We Know About Marina Abramovic's James Franco Movie

Image via Complex Original

She's editing the film by herself, without the guidance of Franco.

When asked if Franco would be helping her, she said, "No! I don't need him. I don't even want to." They still spend time together, but they just don't discuss the project, "No, no. I spend as a friend," she said. "He made everything already. I just have to put in a certain combination of things of how I see, you know?"

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Abramovic has a lot of footage to work with. Like, a lot.

The immaterial girl has a lot of material to work with. Apparently she has amassed hundreds and hundreds of hours of footage to supply her film. Maybe it isn't presumptuous to start thinking about the sequels. 

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Although the pair are very close friends, Abramovic will not appear in the film.

When asked if she will be appearing in the documentary, Abramovic said "No! It's about him." She is apparently just doing the editing, framing the movie as a statement about Franco's work as an actor. "I am editing his life," she added. "I can't explain. I am interested in this phenomenon, James Franco. So what I do is I take everything he has done, and I look into that. And I see how many personalities and how many different characters he is. It is incredible, actually. You don't know who is he, actually."

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We don't know the title of the film, but Abramovic is giddy like a school girl about it.

While Abramovic was attending the Independent Spirit Awards to support Matthew Akers's documentary about her own life and work, she made time to gush about the movie. She said, "He gave me all the material, which I am editing. And I can't tell you the title. It's a secret! But I am so excited!" 

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One reason Abramovic wants to work on the project without help is because she enjoys working within restrictions.

While talking with Interview magazine about a ballet she co-produced, Abramovic talked about developing material within the boundaries of the ballet company. Through her experience, she gained an appreciation for making work within restrictions, saying, "Do you know what's most interesting? Working with the very strong restrictions of the institution. In the Renaissance, the aristocrats would order paintings from the artist. They would order the Crucifixion of Jesus. The restrictions were amazing. Jesus had to be in the middle, three apostles on the left, four apostles on the right—and still you had masterpieces. It's really interesting to work within restriction, and see what you can do with restriction."

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Abramovic is largely making the film to highlight Franco's large, somewhat unknown body of work.

Sometimes you forget how much Franco has done and how diverse his roles have been. Well, Abramovic wants to remind you. She said, "You know, James Franco is one of the most interesting figures because he has no rules. He breaks all the borders. He has made more movies than any other person. He made 90 movies. Did you know that? He finished four universities. He is editing the nine films that he is directing and another eleven where he is playing. I mean, it's kind of insane."

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Marina Abramovic has a lot of personal experiences with James Franco to draw from.

Marina Abramovic and James Franco have been BFFs for quite some time. Franco interviewed Abramovic for the Wall Street Journal in 2009, and he also visited her during her exhibition "The Artist is Present" at MoMA in 2010. The two also attended the 2012 Metropolitan Costume Institute Gala together and appeared on Sundance's "Iconoclasts" series. "I think he’s the most interesting actor of the moment," she said to Elle.

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