The story of how filmmaker Tommy Wiseau brought his opus The Room to life is truly stranger than fiction, creating a widespread cult following and becoming the go-to “so bad it’s good” movie reference. James Franco directed The Disaster Artist, exploring the phenomenon behind the film, and distributor A24 will be releasing the film in the height of awards season, hitting theaters December 1.
In the film, Franco stars as Wiseau as he attempts to write, direct, produce, and star in his debut movie. With no real filmmaking experience in Hollywood, Disaster Artist showcases how a filmmaker can overcome adversity to get his film made, even if his passion outweighs their talents. The film is based on the book of the same name, written by The Room star Greg Sestero about his experiences on set and chronicles his adventures with filmmaker Wiseau as they traveled across the country to appear at raucous Q&As.
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The Room focuses on Johnny (Wiseau), whose job is somehow related to computers, as he attempts to advance his engagement to fiancee Lisa (Juliette Danielle). Sadly, Lisa is actually engaged in an affair with Johnny’s best friend Mark (Sestero), with Johnny slowly learning clues of the romance, leading to an epic confrontation.
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Wiseau’s film originally premiered at one theaters for a two-week engagement in 2003, with audiences reacting so negatively to the film, the theater was prompted to post a “NO REFUNDS” sign due to how many complaints they received. However, word-of-mouth about how laughably bad the film was resulted in a massive turnout at the film’s final screening.
The following year, Wiseau was contacted about doing a midnight screening of his film, which was so successful, it screened again the following month at midnight, and so on. The Room built a huge following, similar to that of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with fans interacting with the film in the theater.
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Franco showed a “work-in-progress” screening of The Disaster Artist at this year’s South by Southwest film festival, where it received a standing ovation and high praise from critics.
The film also stars Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, and Josh Hutcherson.
Following The Disaster Artist‘s December 1 limited release, it will receive a wider release on December 8.
[H/T The Hollywood Reporter]
