Nearly fifteen years ago, Tommy Wiseau brought us THE ROOM, a bizarre film which quickly became a cult classic and has even been referred to as the CITIZEN KANE of bad movies. Even if you've never seen it for yourself, chances are good that you're familiar with a few choice lines or confusing scenes, but audiences who have somehow remained ignorant of THE ROOM are about to be immersed in both the film itself, as well as the story behind its creation, when James Franco's THE DISASTER ARTIST hits theaters. The upcoming film has already received rave reviews, but the inevitable home-media release of the film will have an added treat for ROOM fans – quite a number of recreated scenes, some of which play during the credits of THE DISASTER ARTIST alongside the actual scenes from THE ROOM.
James Franco and his brother, Dave Franco, recently stopped by the Kernels podcast to discuss the film and revealed just how much of those recreated scenes exist.
Kernels: 'How much of The Room did you actually remake in the end?'
J. Franco: 'I think we might have about 20 to 25 minutes of recreated Room scenes.'
D. Franco: 'Beat-for-beat, move-for-move, oh yeah!'
Kernels: 'You should get that out there at some point.'
J. Franco: 'I know! I'm sure that'll be on the DVD, yeah.'
Our own Chris Bumbray caught THE DISASTER ARTIST when it played at the Toronto International Film Festival and praised James Franco's work on the film, particularly as he resists turning Tommy Wiseau into a joke. "He’s funny, but not a stock comedy character. There’s a vulnerability behind the eyes or in his friendship with Sestero, that elevates the comedy into pathos," Bumbray said. "It’s worth noting that Franco never tears down the Wiseau myth too much by revealing his real age, nationality (he tells people through his thick Eastern European accent that he’s from New Orleans) or how exactly he managed to fund a $6 million movie. Why would he? What we imagine is better than the truth anyways."
THE DISASTER ARTIST will hit theaters on December 1st.