Trailer: Franco and Jovovich star in retro sci-fi action film Future World

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

I had no idea what FUTURE WORLD was when the trailer for it was added to the JoBlo Movie Trailers YouTube channel. I didn't know what to expect when I clicked on the video.. but it didn't take me long to feel very glad that I was watching that trailer, because this movie looks amazing to me, in a nostalgia-inducing throwback sort of way.

Directed by James Franco and Bruce Thierry Cheung from a screenplay Cheung wrote with Jay Davis and Jeremy Cheung, FUTURE WORLD is about 

a young boy of noble birth who embarks on a journey through the wasteland of this future world in order to find medicine for his dying mother. Armed with his faithful bodyguard and only a slim hope that this medicine actually exists, he must forge courageously on, facing danger and ultimately the Warlord of this world who has plans of his own as he takes control of a beautiful, life-like robot assassin.

The trailer doesn't delve into the boy's side of things. Instead, we get glimpses of action sequences involving an ass-kicking female robot being relentlessly pursued through a post-apocalyptic wasteland by a gang of bikers led by James Franco, chewing the scenery as his drug lord character… and in these glimpses, FUTURE WORLD looks like any number of post-apocalyptic exploitation films that flooded the market in the wake of MAD MAX and THE ROAD WARRIOR. This is the return of MAD MAXploitation!

I'm always glad to see a throwback to the exploitation era, and while this one looks like the cheapies I grew up on, it boasts a cast packed with familiar names, as Franco has surrounded himself with a supporting cast that includes Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu, Snoop Dogg, and Suki Waterhouse.

Lionsgate will be releasing FUTURE WORLD on May 25th. I will be watching it as soon as possible, hoping to be mentally transported back to the days of movies like DAMNATION ALLEY, CHERRY 2000, CYBORG, etc.