One of the more exciting films that has been in development over the past few years is The Disaster Artist, which aims to tell the bizarre true story behind the making of Tommy Wiseau’s infamous film The Room. The bafflingly atrocious 2003 indie gained cult status following its release, as notable folks in Hollywood—from Paul Rudd to Kristen Bell—became fans of the truly odd romantic drama. The movie subsequently became a staple of the midnight circuit, with writer/director/star Wiseau showing up at random screenings to bask in the ironic popularity of his passion project.
The making of such a strange film resulted in the non-fiction book The Disaster Artist, penned by The Room co-star Greg Sestero, and that in turn spawned a feature film adaptation directed by and starring James Franco. (500) Days of Summer and The Fault in Our Stars scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber penned the screenplay, with Franco producing alongside Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, but when Steve spoke with Franco at the press day for The Adderall Diaries, the prolific filmmaker/actor revealed another twist in the continuing saga of The Room: Tommy Wiseau has a cameo in The Disaster Artist as a result of a contractual obligation:
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“I’m editing it now. It turned out great. I play Tommy Wiseau, my brother [Dave Franco] plays Greg Sestero, the other actor in The Room. Tommy was involved; contractually we had to give him a cameo opposite me, which was very weird because I was playing him. I don’t know if that’ll end up in the movie or not, but it was a surreal experience to say the least (laughs).”
Franco added that it’s still early days so it’s unclear when we might see a trailer, but the promise of a potential Tommy Wiseau cameo opposite James Franco as Tommy Wiseau just made The Disaster Artist that much more of a must-see.
