Dave Franco first appeared in the American family drama television series, ‘7th Heaven’ in 2006. The following year, he made his silver screen debut in the American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film ‘Superbad’ directed by Greg Mottola. The film opened to a positive reception and was a commercial success, grossing over $170.8 million on a budget of $17.5–20 million. That same year, he also starred as ‘Sam’ in the Eric Amadio-directed American romantic comedy-drama film ‘After Sex.’ The film holds a 5.5 out of 10 rating on IMDb. He was next seen in the 2008 American biographical film ‘Milk’ directed by Gus Van Sant. The film opened to critical acclaim and received 8 ‘Academy Award’ nominations. In 2009, he played the role of ‘Mark’ in the Nicholaus Goossen-directed American horror film ‘The Shortcut.’ The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics but failed to perform at the box office. The same year, he joined the cast of the American sitcom ‘Scrubs’ as ‘Cole Aaronson.’ He remained a part of the show until it went off-air in 2010. He next starred in films such as ‘Greenberg’ (2010), ‘Easy A’ (2010), ‘Charlie St. Cloud’ (2010), ‘The Broken Tower’ (2011), and ‘Fright Night’ (2011).
In 2012, he portrayed ‘Eric Molson’ in the American buddy cop action comedy film ‘21 Jump Street’ directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The film received positive reviews from critics and performed well at the box office, grossing over $201.6 million on a $42–54.7 million budget. He next appeared in films like ‘Warm Bodies’ (2013), ‘Now You See Me’ (2013), and ‘The Lego Movie’ (2014). Franco became a recipient of the ‘MTV Movie & TV Award’ for his portrayal of ‘Pete Regazolli’ in the 2014 Nicholas Stoller-directed American comedy film, ‘Neighbors.’ The film received a positive response from critics and was a major box office success, managing to gross over $270.7 million on a budget of $18 million. He continued to star in films such as ‘Unfinished Business’ (2015), ‘Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising’ (2016), ‘Now You See Me 2’ (2016), ‘Nerve’ (2016), ‘The Little Hours’ (2017), ‘The Disaster Artist’ (2017), ‘The Lego Ninjago Movie’ (2017), ‘6 Balloons’ (2018), ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ (2018), ‘Zeroville’ (2019), and ‘6 Underground’ (2019). Franco was last seen in the 2022 American vampire film, ‘Day Shift’ directed by J. J. Perry. The film received mixed reviews from critics and currently holds a 56% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes.