‘Toad’ is a New Stoner Comedy Featuring James Franco, Tiffany Haddish and Craig Robinson

Wadzilla director Adam Rifkin is gearing up for yet another eclectic production, accompanied this time by a star-studded cast that will include the somewhat infamous James Franco alongside a plethora of other household names. Entitled Toad, the upcoming project has been described as “a psychedelic stoner comedy” that will put viewers at the center of a trippy, drug-fueled odyssey to Las Vegas and beyond.

Rifkin’s Toad follows the shenanigans of Alex and Sam, two down-on-their-luck stoners who end up in the service of menacing crime lord Charles (Robinson), and are subsequently pressured into transporting a mysterious package from LA to Vegas. When Alex and Sam decide to take a peek inside the box, they discover live, psychedelic “acid” toads which promptly begin to overheat, leaving our hapless protagonist duo no option but to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. As a result, Alex and Sam are dosed with extreme amounts of the toads’ psychedelic ooze, transforming a simple trip to Vegas into a, well, trip to Vegas. Guided by a life-sized talking toad, Alex and Sam encounter more than a few offbeat characters, including a biker gang, a maniacal French chef, and a sex cult — all of whom want to seize the psychedelic amphibians for their own purposes.

Starring James Paxton from Twisters and voice actor Oliver Wyman as the lovable stoner duo, and including Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip), Katt Williams (Scary Movie V), Christopher Meloni (Law and Order), and Craig Robinson (The Office; Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Toad is set to be an absurdly surreal comedy, per Deadline, that’s a perfect escape from the drudgery of everyday life.

When discussing the film, producer Brad Wyman stated: “Adam Rifkin’s entire career has prepared him for directing Toad. It’s that offbeat, almost surreal type of comedy where the absurdity of the situations and characters escalate to ridiculous levels, making it impossible not to laugh out loud.”

Rifkin also praised the cast and crew of his production, saying, “I believe the producers … have done an incredible job of securing top-notch talent that will really drive this story forward and make viewers belly laugh.”

Although the optimism surrounding Toad certainly seems promising — and the description of the film itself is a comedic breath of fresh air — the decision to cast Franco in a yet-unspecified role may end up affecting Toad‘s potential success. Once a blockbuster movie star, Franco’s career took a nose-dive when he was confronted by multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by former students as well as a 17-year-old girl. Franco eventually admitted to the allegations, settling a lawsuit in 2021, and keeping a relatively low profile after the fact.

While Franco has appeared in a handful of films in the last few years, he still hasn’t managed to avoid further controversy. Although no additional reports of sexual misconduct have been made, he received intense backlash for choosing to work with Vincent Gallo — a man who has also been accused of inappropriate and harmful behavior towards women — on The Policeman. Franco also faced criticism after being cast as Fidel Castro in Alina of Cuba, as Franco was a white man attempting to portray a Latino person.

It’s unclear if these controversies will continue to harm Franco’s image, since he has consistently managed to secure work in spite of them. Although he’s not topping the charts anytime soon, films like The Policeman and Alina of Cuba are still relatively mainstream, demonstrating his longevity in the industry despite his past behavior. Clearly, the producers and casting crew behind Toad are willing to excuse Franco’s previous actions as well — but audiences may not feel the same way, throwing Toad‘s success into question despite the strength of its premise and cast.