#Dave Franco set to play rapper Vanilla Ice in an ‘Extreme’ biopic

By Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone

Dave Franco confirmed he will portray Vanilla Ice in an upcoming biopic that puts a “Disaster Artist”-like spin on the story of the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper.

The film “To the Extreme” was originally revealed via casting notice in January 2019, but the biopic has not yet started production. However, Franco spoke for the first time about playing Vanilla Ice in an interview with Insider.

Franco likened the tone of “To the Extreme” to that of “The Disaster Artist,” a film directed by his brother James Franco and starring the Franco brothers as the duo responsible for the beloved terrible movie “The Room.”

“With [‘The Disaster Artist’], people expected us to make a broad comedy where we make fun of [‘The Room ‘director] Tommy Wiseau, but the more real we played it, the funnier and heartfelt it was — that’s the tone we want for this one as well,” Franco told Insider.

The film — named after Rob “Vanilla Ice” Van Winkle’s 1990 debut album — is currently in preproduction due to the pandemic, with Franco saying he regularly calls the rapper. “Rob is such a sweet and intelligent guy and he’s been super helpful in the process of getting all the details correct and making us privy to information the public doesn’t know,” Franco said. “Just talking to him I can’t help but think about the rabbit holes I’m going to go down to get ready for the role.”

In January 2019, the “To the Extreme” casting listing’s logline read, “From a high school dropout selling cars in Dallas to having the first hip-hop single to top the Billboard charts with ‘Ice Ice Baby,’ a young Vanilla Ice struggles with stardom, extortion attempts and selling out as he makes music history.”

Franco’s directorial debut “The Rental” arrives this weekend via video-on-demand.