A trailer for James Franco's new movie Palo Alto has been released, according to Digital Spy.

Emma Roberts stars in the Gia Coppola-directed movie as a young student who engages in an affair with her soccer coach (Franco).

Palo Alto is based on material from Franco's 2010 short story collection, and made waves last year at the Telluride Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival.

The trailer has been released at the same time as Franco has been involved in a minor controversy for denying flirting with a 17-year-old girl on social media.

There has been speculation that the entire scandal is simply a publicity stunt to promote Palo Alto, considering that the movie carries a similar theme.

Palo Alto is slated to open in US cinemas on May 9.