From Tommy Wiseau’s mysterious and strangely disinterested tone to some of the most quotable (for all the wrong reasons) pieces of dialogue in cinematic history, 2003 cult (quirky black) comedy The Room has remained in the hearts and minds of fans around the world for over a decade now. It’s achieved what very few other “bad” movies have managed to do, placing it as a timeless “disasterpiece” that will likely keep gaining fans until every single person has experienced the anti-genius (or actual genius) that is Tommy Wiseau: Director, screenwriter, actor, and producer of The Room. How can James Franco even begin to recreate this literal comedy of errors?
Since The Room is still in public consciousness thanks to anticipated screenings around the world, it makes sense that two of the most oddball comedy stars of our time, Seth Rogen and Franco, would seek to try and capture a similar spark. Their opportunity came with the release of the award-winning non fiction book The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero, who portrayed baby-faced football-catcher and serial adulterer Mark in The Room. The best-seller was written on the making of the cult classic, with particular focus on the idiosyncratic Wiseau, who the book reveals had a very, very peculiar approach to movie making, let alone everyday life.
Rogen and Franco drew inspiration from this book and are releasing a film of the same name, with Franco attempting to portray Wiseau. It’s a curious move, and one which could easily be an actual disaster (which might in turn make it amazing); Wiseau doesn’t exactly seem like the type of man who could ever be replicated, by anyone…ever.
However, it seems like we will start to see the film take shape over the next few months, kicking off with an Instagram post by Franco in which he gives us our first look at him as Tommy Wiseau, recreating the infamous “hi doggy” scene.
Here’s James Franco in action. He looks great. He looks a babyface:
The Disaster Artist will (hopefully) be released sometimes this year and also stars Alison Brie, Josh Hutcherson, Dave Franco, Hannibal Buress, Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Kate Upton, and….Sharon Stone. We feel like we’re sitting on an atomic bomb waiting for it to go off.
And here’s the original clip for those who haven’t seen it:
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