Discussing Film made the first report that actor Dave Franco will not only be writing, but also making his directorial debut on an Airbnb horror film. His brother James Franco will also be producing the film.
The film is under the title ‘The Rental’ and is from the production company Black Bear Pictures (‘The Imitation Game,’ ‘Mudbound’). Joe Swanberg (‘Happy Christmas,’ ‘Easy’) co-wrote the screenplay with Franco.
The premise is below:
“Two couples rent an Airbnb vacation home and begin to suspect that the owner of the home is spying on them.”
Franco has been part of a few franchises, such as ‘Jump Street,’ ‘Now You See Me,’ and ‘Neighbors.’ He was recently in the Academy Award winner ‘If Beale Street Could Talk.’ He will next be in Michael Bay’s ‘6 Underground,’ releasing on Netflix sometime this year.
Moreover, Dan Stevens and Franco’s wife Alison Brie have been cast in the film. However, it is unknown what their characters will be, but it is possible they are one of the two couples that are in the Airbnb house.
Stevens has been quite popular as of late, having been in several projects over the past few years. With films like Adam Wingard’s ‘The Guest,’ Bill Condon’s ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ and Gareth Evans’ ‘Apostle,’ he has been all over the map. His breakout role was in the BBC series ‘Downton Abbey.’ Now, he is the titular character of ‘Legion,’ which has its third and final season premiering this June on FX.
Brie broke out with the AMC series ‘Mad Men’ and (mostly) NBC series ‘Community.’ Since then, she’s had roles in both ‘The Lego Movie’ films, James Franco’s ‘The Disaster Artist,’ and Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Post.’ She now has series regular roles in two different Netflix shows: ‘Bojack Horseman’ and ‘GLOW.’
The cast also includes Sheila Vand (’24: Legacy,’ ‘Triple Frontier’) and Jeremy Allen White (‘Shameless,’ ‘Homecoming’).
Further, filming will begin on April 22nd in Portland, Oregon.
There is no release date as of now.
Source: Discussing Film and Deadline