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'{{short description|2003 film by Tommy Wiseau}} {{About|the 2003 film starring Tommy Wiseau|the 2015 film starring Brie Larson|Room (2015 film)|other uses}} {{good article}} {{Use American English|date=December 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}} {{Infobox film | name = The Room | image = TheRoomMovie.jpg | alt = A black-and-white poster for the movie shows Tommy Wiseau's face looking directly at the viewer. | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Tommy Wiseau]] | producer = Tommy Wiseau | writer = Tommy Wiseau | starring = {{Plainlist| * Tommy Wiseau * [[Greg Sestero]] * [[Juliette Danielle]] * Philip Haldiman * Carolyn Minnott }} | music = [[Mladen Milicevic]] | cinematography = Todd Barron | editing = Eric Yalkut Chase | studio = Wiseau-Films | distributor = {{Plainlist| * Chloe Productions * TPW Films }} | released = {{Film date|2003|06|27}} ([[Los Angeles]]) | runtime = 99 minutes<ref>{{cite news|last1=Foundas|first1=Scott|title=Review: 'The Room'|url=https://variety.com/2003/film/reviews/the-room-1117921325/|access-date=June 16, 2017|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=July 17, 2003|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619163936/https://variety.com/2003/film/reviews/the-room-1117921325/|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> | country = United States | language = English | budget = $6 million<ref name="vulture">{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Nate|title=How ''The Room'' Became the Biggest Cult Film of the Past Decade|url=https://www.vulture.com/2013/06/the-room-10th-anniversary-history.html|access-date=June 16, 2017|work=[[New York (magazine)|Vulture]]|date=June 27, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164054/http://www.vulture.com/2013/06/the-room-10th-anniversary-history.html|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> | gross = $4.9 million }} '''''The Room''''' is a 2003 American [[Independent film|independent]] [[Romance film|romantic]] [[drama film]] written, directed, and produced by [[Tommy Wiseau]], who also stars in the film alongside [[Juliette Danielle]] and [[Greg Sestero]]. Set in San Francisco, the film is centred around a [[melodrama]]tic [[love triangle]] between amiable banker Johnny (Wiseau), his deceptive fiancée<!-- Don't replace with "future wife" unless in the context of the film's dialogue. --> Lisa (Danielle), and his conflicted best friend Mark (Sestero). The work was reportedly intended to be [[semi-autobiographical]] in nature. According to Wiseau, the title alludes to the potential of a room to be the site of both good and bad events.<ref name="qa" /> The stage play from which the film is derived was so named due to its events taking place entirely in a single room.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=228}} A number of publications have labeled ''The Room'' as one of [[List of films considered the worst#The Room (2003)|the worst films ever made]]. An assistant professor of [[film studies]] was the first to describe ''The Room'' as "the ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' of bad movies".<ref name="ew2"/> Originally shown only in a [[Limited release|limited number of California theaters]], ''The Room'' quickly became a [[cult film]] due to its bizarre and unconventional storytelling, technical and narrative issues, and Wiseau's performance, which is often described as off-kilter. Although Wiseau has retrospectively described the film as a [[black comedy]], audiences have generally viewed it as a poorly made drama, an opinion shared by some of the cast. Although the film was a [[box-office bomb]], home-media sales and notoriety following its initial release significantly increased its public profile.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Room |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0368226/credits/ |access-date=2022-02-25 |website=Box Office Mojo |archive-date=February 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225165850/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0368226/credits/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Disaster Artist]]'', Sestero's [[memoir]] of the making of ''The Room'', was co-written with [[Tom Bissell]] and published in 2013. A [[The Disaster Artist (film)|film of the same title]] based on the book, directed by and starring [[James Franco]], was released on December&nbsp;1, 2017; the book and film received widespread acclaim and numerous award nominations. A [[The Room remake|remake]] starring [[Bob Odenkirk]] is set to be released at an unspecified date; delayed from the original 2023 release date, which would have coincided with the twentieth anniversary of ''The Room''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=J. Kim |date=2023-03-09 |title=Bob Odenkirk Says He's Starring in a Remake of Tommy Wiseau's 'The Room': 'I Tried My Best to Sell Every Line' |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/bob-odenkirk-the-room-remake-tommy-wiseau-1235547708/ |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> == Plot == Johnny is a successful banker who lives in a [[San Francisco]] townhouse with his fiancée<!-- Don't replace with "future wife" unless in the context of the film's dialogue. --> Lisa, who has become dissatisfied with their relationship. She seduces his best friend, Mark, and the two begin a secret [[Infidelity|affair]]. Having overheard Lisa confessing her infidelity to her mother, Johnny attaches a [[tape recorder]] to their phone in an attempt to identify her lover by recording their phone conversations. Johnny and Mark rescue Denny, a neighboring college student whom Johnny financially and emotionally supports, from a run-in with an armed drug dealer, Chris-R. Denny confesses to Johnny that he lusts after Lisa, and though he understands, Johnny encourages him to pursue one of his classmates instead. When Lisa starts falsely claiming that Johnny has become physically abusive, Johnny spirals into a mental haze and calls upon both Mark and his psychologist friend Peter for guidance. Mark confides to Peter on the rooftop that he feels guilty about his affair. When Peter deduces that the affair is with Lisa, Mark violently confronts him on the roof's edge, only to calm down immediately. At a surprise birthday party for Johnny, his friend Steven catches Lisa kissing Mark while the other guests are outside and confronts them about the affair. To distract Johnny, Lisa falsely announces that they are expecting a child. At the end of the evening, Lisa and Mark flaunt their affair, leading to a physical altercation between Mark and Johnny, which culminates in Johnny kicking everyone out. Johnny locks himself in the bathroom in despair and berates Lisa for betraying him, prompting her to call Mark. Johnny retrieves the cassette recorder that he attached to the phone and listens to the intimate call. He has an emotional breakdown, angrily destroying his apartment and committing [[suicide]] by shooting himself in the mouth. Lisa tells Mark that they are finally free to be together, but he brushes her off for her callous treatment of Johnny. Together with Denny, they wait with Johnny's body for the police to arrive. == Cast == [[File:GregSestero (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Photograph of a man with a collared shirt facing the camera.|[[Greg Sestero]], who portrayed Mark in ''The Room'' and served as its [[line producer]], wrote ''[[The Disaster Artist]]'' based on his experiences working on the film.]] {{cast listing| * [[Tommy Wiseau]] as Johnny, a successful banker who is engaged to Lisa. * [[Juliette Danielle]] as Lisa, Johnny's fiancée<!-- Don't replace with "future wife" unless in the context of the film's dialogue. -->, who engages in an affair with Mark. * [[Greg Sestero]] as Mark, Johnny's best friend, who is having an affair with Lisa. * Philip Haldiman as Denny, a young college student who is financially and emotionally supported by Johnny. * Carolyn Minnott as Claudette, Lisa's mother. * Robyn Paris as Michelle, Lisa's best friend and personal advisor. * Scott Holmes as Mike, Michelle's boyfriend. * [[Dan Janjigian]] as Chris-R, a drug dealer who threatens Denny. * Kyle Vogt as Peter, a psychologist and friend of Mark and Johnny * Greg Ellery as Steven, a friend of Johnny and Lisa }} == Production == === Development === Tommy Wiseau originally wrote ''The Room'' as a play in 2001, after seeing the film ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]''.<ref name="ew2"/><ref name="LAist">{{cite news|last1=Shatkin|first1=Elina|url=http://laist.com/2007/04/27/laist_interviews_tommy_wiseau_the_face_behind_the_billboard.php|title=LAist Interviews Tommy Wiseau, The Face Behind The Billboard|work=[[LAist]]|date=April 27, 2007|access-date=June 19, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164427/http://laist.com/2007/04/27/laist_interviews_tommy_wiseau_the_face_behind_the_billboard.php|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> He then adapted the play into a 540-page book, which he was unable to get published.<ref name="pm1"/> Frustrated, Wiseau instead decided to adapt the play into a film, producing it himself in order to maintain creative control.<ref name="pm1"/><ref name="varsity">{{cite web|last1=Sloan|first1=Will|title=The Varsity Interview: Tommy Wiseau|url=https://thevarsity.ca/2011/04/27/the-varsity-interview-tommy-wiseau/|work=[[The Varsity (newspaper)|The Varsity]]|date=April 27, 2011|access-date=June 19, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619031136/https://thevarsity.ca/2011/04/27/the-varsity-interview-tommy-wiseau/|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> Wiseau has been secretive about how he obtained funding for the project, but he told ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' that he made some of the money by importing leather jackets from Korea.<ref name="ew2"/> According to ''[[The Disaster Artist]]'' (Greg Sestero's book based on the making of ''The Room''), Wiseau was already independently wealthy at the time production began. Over several years, he claims to have amassed a fortune through [[entrepreneurship]] and real estate development in [[Los Angeles]] and [[San Francisco]], a story Sestero found impossible to believe.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|pp=246–50}} Although many of the people involved with the project feared that the film was part of a [[money laundering]] scheme for organized crime, Sestero also found this possibility unlikely.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|pp=100, 160}} Wiseau spent the entire {{US$|6000000|2003|round=-5|about=yes|link=yes}} budget for ''The Room'' on production and marketing;<ref name="ew2"/> Wiseau stated that the film was relatively expensive because many members of the cast and crew had to be replaced.<ref name="onion-wiseau"/> According to Sestero, Wiseau made numerous poor decisions during filming that unnecessarily inflated the film's budget, such as building sets for sequences that could have been filmed on location, purchasing production equipment rather than renting it, and filming scenes multiple times using different sets.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=98}} Wiseau also forgot his lines and place on camera, resulting in minutes-long dialogue sequences taking hours or days to shoot. Wiseau's antics on the set further caused the film's cost to skyrocket, according to Sestero.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=71}} According to Sestero and Greg Ellery, Wiseau rented a [[Sound stage|studio]] at the Birns & Sawyer film lot and bought a "complete Beginning Director package", which included two film and [[High-definition video|HD]] cameras;<ref name="rifftrax">{{cite web|last1=Lastowka|first1=Conor|title=RiffTrax Interview with The Room's Greg Ellery|url=http://blog.rifftrax.com/2009/06/12/rifftrax-interview-with-the-rooms-greg-ellery/|website=[[RiffTrax]]|access-date=June 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617102354/http://blog.rifftrax.com/2009/06/12/rifftrax-interview-with-the-rooms-greg-ellery/|archive-date=June 17, 2009|date=June 12, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Wiseau was confused about the differences between [[35mm movie film|35 mm film]] and high-definition video, yet he wanted to be the first director to film an entire movie simultaneously in two formats. He achieved this by using a custom-built apparatus that housed both cameras side by side and required two crews to operate.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=26}}<ref name="pm1"/> Despite this, only the 35&nbsp;mm film footage was used in the final cut.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=261}} === Casting === [[File:Tommy-Wiseau-1.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Man photographed from the chest up in front of a brick wall.|[[Tommy Wiseau]] in a promotional image for ''The Room'' as Johnny. Aside from being the lead of the film, Wiseau served as its writer, director, producer, and executive producer.]] Wiseau selected actors from thousands of [[head shot]]s,<ref name="LAist"/> although most of the cast had never been in a feature film prior to ''The Room''. Sestero had limited film experience and agreed to work as part of the production crew only as a favor to Wiseau, whom he had been friends with for some time before production began. Sestero then agreed to play the Mark character after Wiseau fired the original actor on the first day of filming. Sestero was uncomfortable filming his sex scenes and was allowed to keep his jeans on while shooting them.<ref name="weis"/> According to Greg Ellery, Juliette Danielle had "just gotten off the bus from [[Texas]]" when the shooting began, and "the cast watched in horror" as Wiseau jumped on Danielle, immediately beginning to film their "love scene".<ref name="rifftrax"/> Sestero disputed this, stating that the sex scenes were among the last filmed.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=234}} Wiseau said that Danielle was originally one of three or four [[Understudy|understudies]] for the Lisa character and was selected after the original actress left the production.<ref name="onion-wiseau">{{cite web|last1=Heisler|first1=Steve|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|title=Tommy Wiseau|url=https://film.avclub.com/tommy-wiseau-1798216894|date=June 24, 2009|access-date=June 19, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101162606/https://film.avclub.com/tommy-wiseau-1798216894|archive-date=November 1, 2017}}</ref> According to Sestero, the original actress was "Latina" and came from an unidentified South American country;{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=122}} according to Danielle, the actress was closer to Wiseau's age with a "random" accent. Danielle had been cast as Michelle but was given the Lisa role when the original actress was dismissed because her "personality... didn't seem to fit" the character.<ref name="prax">{{cite web|last1=Ryan|first1=Ryan|url=http://www.praxismagazine.com/interview/jdan.htm|work=Praxis Magazine|title=Interview with ''The Room's'' Juliette Danielle|access-date=June 19, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411053005/http://www.praxismagazine.com/interview/jdan.htm|archive-date=April 11, 2017}}</ref> Danielle corroborates that multiple actors were dismissed from the production prior to filming, including another actress hired to play Michelle.<ref name="prax"/> Even though Kyle Vogt (who played Peter) told the production team that he had only a limited amount of time for the project, not all of his scenes were filmed by the time his schedule ran out. Despite the fact that Peter was to play a pivotal role in the climax, Vogt left the production; his lines in the last half of the film were given to Ellery, whose character is never introduced, explained, or addressed by name.<ref name="weis"/><ref name="rifftrax"/><ref name="onion-sestero"/> === Writing === The original script was significantly longer than the one used and featured a series of lengthy [[monologue]]s; it was edited on-set by the cast and [[script supervisor]] Sandy Schklair, who found much of the dialogue incomprehensible. An anonymous cast member told ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' that the script contained "stuff that was just unsayable. I know it's hard to imagine there was stuff that was worse. But there was."<ref name="ew2">{{cite magazine|last1=Collis|first1=Clark|title=The Crazy Cult of 'The Room'|url=https://ew.com/article/2008/12/12/crazy-cult-room/|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=December 12, 2008|issue=1026|access-date=June 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164105/https://ew.com/article/2008/12/12/crazy-cult-room/|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Nate|title=The Original Script for ''The Room'' Was Even Weirder, If You Can Believe It|url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/original-script-for-way-weirder.html|website=[[Vulture (blog)|Vulture]]|access-date=July 20, 2017|date=November 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720150000/http://www.vulture.com/2015/11/original-script-for-way-weirder.html|archive-date=July 20, 2017}}</ref> Sestero mentions that Wiseau was adamant characters say their lines as written, but that several cast members slipped in [[ad lib]]s that made the final cut.<ref name="weis"/> Much of the dialogue is repetitive, especially Johnny's. His speech contains several [[catchphrase]]s: he begins almost every conversation with "Oh, hi!" or "Oh, hi [name of character]!" To dismissively end conversations, many characters use the phrase "Don't worry about it", and almost every male character discusses Lisa's physical attractiveness (including an unnamed character whose only line is "Lisa looks hot tonight"). Lisa often stops discussions about Johnny by saying "I don't want to talk about it." In ''The Disaster Artist'', Sestero recalls that Wiseau planned a subplot in which Johnny was revealed to be a [[vampire]] because of Wiseau's fascination with the creatures.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=84}} Sestero recounts how Wiseau tasked the crew with devising a way for Johnny's [[Mercedes-Benz]] to fly across the San Francisco skyline, revealing Johnny's vampiric nature.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=92}} === Filming === [[Principal photography]] lasted four months. [[Shot (filmmaking)|Shooting]] took place mainly on the Birns & Sawyer soundstage in Los Angeles, with some [[second unit]] shooting in [[San Francisco]], California. The many rooftop sequences were shot on the soundstage, and exteriors of San Francisco were [[Chroma key|greenscreen]]ed in.<ref name="ew2" /> A behind-the-scenes feature shows that some of the roof scenes were shot in August 2002. The film employed over 400 people, and Wiseau is credited as an [[actor]], [[Screenwriter|writer]], [[Film producer|producer]], [[Film director|director]], and [[executive producer]]. Other executive producer credits include Chloe Lietzke and Drew Caffrey. According to Sestero, Lietzke was Wiseau's [[ESL]] tutor and had no involvement in the film, and Caffrey, who had been an entrepreneurial mentor to Wiseau, died in 1999.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bacher|first1=Danielle|title=Remembering 'The Room'|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/remembering-the-room-20131004|access-date=June 19, 2017|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=October 4, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164522/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/remembering-the-room-20131004|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> Wiseau had several problems with his behind-the-camera team, and claims to have replaced the entire crew four times.<ref name="ew2"/><ref name="Tommy">{{cite web|last1=Walker|first1=Doug|author-link1=Doug Walker (actor)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-JgRJDadE|title=Shut Up and Talk: Tommy Wiseau|work=[[Channel Awesome]]|publisher=[[YouTube]]|date=April 30, 2015|access-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620153328/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-JgRJDadE|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> He also assigned multiple (and often disparate) responsibilities to several crew members, a process Sestero described as "sandwich[ing] two roles into one" that frequently resulted in shooting delays: aside from playing the role of Mark, Sestero worked as the film's [[line producer]], helped with [[Casting (performing arts)|casting]], and assisted Wiseau; Schklair also served as a ''[[de facto]]'' [[first assistant director]], and Birns & Sawyer sales representative Peter Anway acted as another assistant to Wiseau.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=152}}<ref name="onion-sestero">{{cite web|last1=Heisler|first1=Steve|url=https://film.avclub.com/the-rooms-greg-sestero-best-friend-extraordinaire-1798219160|title=''The Room's'' Greg Sestero, Best Friend Extraordinaire|work=The A.V. Club|date=February 23, 2010|access-date=June 19, 2017|archive-date=October 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023152049/https://film.avclub.com/the-rooms-greg-sestero-best-friend-extraordinaire-1798219160|url-status=live}}</ref> Wiseau frequently forgot his lines or missed cues, and required numerous retakes and direction from Schklair and a [[stagehand]] named Byron; much of his dialogue had to be [[Dubbing|dubbed]] in post-production.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=128}} === Soundtrack === {{Infobox album | name = The Room | type = soundtrack | artist = [[Mladen Milicevic]] | cover = blank | released = {{start date|2003||}} | recorded = | genre = [[Film score]], [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] | length = 56:28 | label = TPW Records | producer = }} The [[Film score|score]] was written by [[Mladen Milicevic]], a music professor at [[Loyola Marymount University]]. Milicevic later provided the score for Wiseau's 2004 documentary ''Homeless in America'' and ''[[Room Full of Spoons]]'', a 2016 documentary on ''The Room''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Litowitz|first1=Drew|title=Meet Mladen Milicevic, the College Professor Who Composed the Music for "The Room"|url=https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/rb5a56/mladen-milicevic-the-room-soundtrack-interview|access-date=July 19, 2017|work=Noisey|publisher=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|date=November 1, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719151404/https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/rb5a56/mladen-milicevic-the-room-soundtrack-interview|archive-date=July 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Milicevic|first1=Mladen|title=Credits: Mladen Milicevic&nbsp;– Composer|url=http://myweb.lmu.edu/faculty/mmilicevic/BA/credits.pdf|access-date=July 19, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719151409/http://myweb.lmu.edu/faculty/mmilicevic/BA/credits.pdf|archive-date=July 19, 2017}}</ref> The soundtrack features four [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] [[slow jam]]s which play during four of the film's five [[Sex in film|love scenes]]; Michelle and Mike's [[oral sex]] scene uses only [[Instrumental|instrumental music]]. The songs are "I Will" by Jarah Gibson, "Crazy" by Clint Gamboa, "Baby You and Me" by Gamboa with Bell Johnson, and "You're My Rose" by Kitra Williams & Reflection. "You're My Rose" is also reprised during the end credits. The soundtrack was released by Wiseau's TPW Records in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|title=Release "The Room" by Various Artists|url=https://musicbrainz.org/release/eddb9a5d-c210-44db-8510-88363f77add1|website=[[MusicBrainz]]|access-date=July 19, 2017|date=April 24, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719151415/https://musicbrainz.org/release/eddb9a5d-c210-44db-8510-88363f77add1|archive-date=July 19, 2017}}</ref> {| width=50% | {{Track listing | headline = | total_length = 56:28 | all_music = Mladen Milicevic, except where noted | extra_column = Lead vocals | title1 = The Room | length1 = 2:14 | title2 = Red Dress | length2 = 1:09 | title3 = I Will | length3 = 3:28 | note3 = Kitra Williams, Jarah Gibson | extra3 = Wayman Davis | title4 = Lisa and Mark | length4 = 1:30 | title5 = You're My Rose | length5 = 2:22 | note5 = Kitra Williams, Wayman Davis | extra5 = Kitra Williams | title6 = Red Roses | length6 = 3:15 | title7 = Street | length7 = 0:53 | title8 = Life | length8 = 2:43 | title9 = Street Two | length9 = 1:05 | title10 = Crazy | length10 = 2:52 | note10 = Clint Gamboa, Wayman Davis | extra10 = Clint Gamboa | title11 = Chocolate is the symbol of love. | length11 = 1:52 | title12 = Chris-R | length12 = 1:43 | title13 = Reason | length13 = 0:52 | title14 = Johnny Mark and Denny on the Roof | length14 = 1:09 | title15 = Lisa, Michelle, and Johnny | length15 = 1:55 | title16 = Yes or No | length16 = 1:20 | title17 = I'll record everything. | length17 = 1:13 | title18 = XYZ | length18 = 1:05 | title19 = Mark and Peter | length19 = 1:08 | title20 = Jogging | length20 = 1:36 | title21 = Baby You and Me | length21 = 3:17 | note21 = Kitra Williams, Clint Gamboa, Jarah Gibson | extra21 = Clint Gamboa, Bell Johnson | title22 = Happy birthday, Johnny. | length22 = 1:36 | title23 = Lisa and Mark | length23 = 0:52 | title24 = Fight During the Party | length24 = 1:16 | title25 = Johnny in the Bathroom | length25 = 1:42 | title26 = Tape Recorder | length26 = 3:56 | title27 = Johnny Becomes Crazy | length27 = 2:48 | title28 = Why? Why Johnny? | length28 = 2:39 | title29 = Reflection (You're My Rose) | length29 = 2:42 | note29 = Kitra Williams, Wayman Davis | extra29 = Kitra Williams }} | |} === Directorial credit dispute === In a 2011 ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' article, Schklair announced that he desired credit for directing ''The Room''. Schklair told ''EW'' that Wiseau became too engrossed with his acting duties to direct the film properly and asked him to "tell the actors what to do, and yell 'Action' and 'Cut' and tell the cameraman what shots to get." The script supervisor also said that Wiseau asked Schklair to "direct [his] movie" but refused to give up the director title. This story is corroborated by one of the film's actors (who requested anonymity) and by Sestero in ''The Disaster Artist''. Sestero describes Schklair taking charge of numerous sequences in which Wiseau found himself unable to remember lines or adequately interact with the rest of the cast, but jokes that claiming directorial credit was like "claiming to have been the ''[[LZ 129 Hindenburg|Hindenburg]]''{{'}}s principal aeronautics engineer", and also notes that Schklair left the production before the end of principal photography in favor of the short film ''Jumbo Girl'' due to that project being shot by [[Janusz Kamiński]].{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=27}}{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=211}} Wiseau has dismissed Schklair's comments, saying, "Well, this is so laughable that...you know what? I don't know, probably only in America it can happen, this kind of stuff"; he similarly implied that Schklair's abandoning of the film during filming was justification for not receiving such a credit.<ref name="varsity"/> == Analysis == === Interpretations, themes, and influences === {{Quote box|quote=Tommy's life study of human interaction had been put into a Final Draft blender and sprinkled with the darkness of whatever he'd been living through over the last nine months. The one thing Tommy's script wasn't about, despite its characters' claims? Love.<br />I had a sobering, sad, and powerful realization: our friendship was the most human experience Tommy had had in the last few years. Maybe ever. The happy news was that whatever Tommy had been running from, he'd managed to turn and face it down in his script. Instead of killing himself, he wrote himself out of danger. He did this by making his character [Johnny] the one spotless human being amid chaos, lies and infidelity.|source=– Sestero on his initial reaction to ''The Room''{{'}}s script{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=228}}|salign=right|width=25%|align=right}} ''The Room'' is considered to be [[semi-autobiographical]] as it draws on specific incidents from Wiseau's own life, such as the details of how Johnny came to San Francisco and met Lisa, and the nature of Johnny and Mark's friendship.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=5}}<ref name="vmag">{{cite web|url=https://vmagazine.com/article/james-franco-interviews-the-men-behind-the-the-worst-film-ever-made/|title=James Franco Interviews the Men Behind the {{sic|hide=y|reason=double 'the' error in source title}} "The Worst Film Ever Made"|last1=Franco|first1=James|author-link1=James Franco|date=May 18, 2016|publisher=[[V (American magazine)|V magazine]]|access-date=July 27, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727145121/http://vmagazine.com/article/james-franco-interviews-the-men-behind-the-the-worst-film-ever-made/|archive-date=July 27, 2017}}</ref> According to Sestero, the character of Lisa is based on a former lover of Wiseau's to whom he intended to propose marriage with a {{US$|1500}} diamond engagement ring, but because she "betray[ed] him multiple times", their relationship ended in a break-up.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=246}} Defining the script as "an advisory warning about the perils of having friends", Sestero has described ''The Room'' as Wiseau's "life study of human interaction", dealing with additional themes of trust, fear and truth.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=228}} Sestero further postulates that Wiseau based Lisa's explicit conniving on the character [[Tom Ripley]], after Wiseau had a profound emotional reaction to the film ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'', and matches elements of its three main characters to those in ''The Room''; Sestero has likewise indicated that the character Mark was named for the Ripley actor [[Matt Damon]], whose first name Wiseau had misheard.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=189}} Wiseau also drew on the [[chamber play]]s of [[Tennessee Williams]], whose highly emotional scenes he enjoyed acting out in drama school&nbsp;– many advertising materials for ''The Room'' make explicit parallels to the playwright's work through the tagline "A film with the passion of {{sic|Tennesee}} Williams."<ref name="ew2"/>{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=263}} In his direction and performance, Wiseau attempted to emulate [[Orson Welles]], [[Clint Eastwood]], [[Marlon Brando]] and [[James Dean]], especially Dean's performance in the film ''[[Giant (1956 film)|Giant]]'',<ref name="Stanford">{{cite news|last1=Xiao|first1=Madelyne|url=https://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/04/07/interview-with-tommy-wiseau/|title='The Room' director talks new sitcom project, directorial influences|date=April 7, 2015|work=[[The Stanford Daily]]|access-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620153446/http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/04/07/interview-with-tommy-wiseau/|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref><ref name="onion-wiseau"/> and went so far as to directly use quotes from their films&nbsp;– the famous line "You are tearing me apart, Lisa!" is derived from a similar line performed by Dean in ''[[Rebel Without a Cause]]''.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=126}} MacDowell and Zborowski point out that ''The Room'' democratises "the pleasures involved in being a critic, due to the film’s blatant breaking of the most simple rules of coherent cinematic narrative".<ref>MacDowell, James and Zborowski, James 2013: [https://www.academia.edu/7754891/The_Aesthetics_of_So_Bad_it_s_Good_Value_Intention_and_The_Room_2013_ "The Aesthetics of ›So Bad it’s Good‹: Value, Intention, and The Room"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128100536/https://www.academia.edu/7754891/The_Aesthetics_of_So_Bad_it_s_Good_Value_Intention_and_The_Room_2013_ |date=January 28, 2023 }}, in: Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media 6, pp. 1–30.</ref> Middlemost has shown that Wiseau's authorship and intentionality are integral to the audiences' enjoyment of the film's flaws.<ref>Middlemost, Renee, [https://www.academia.edu/85245795/Renovating_The_Room_audience_reception_and_paratextual_intervention "Renovating The Room: Audience Reception and Paratextual Intervention"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128100532/https://www.academia.edu/85245795/Renovating_The_Room_audience_reception_and_paratextual_intervention |date=January 28, 2023 }}, in: Celebrity Studies 2018, pp. 1–18.</ref> Tirosh has suggested that this need for integrity is comparable to the reception of medieval works such as the Icelandic sagas, and equates the audience shouting at the screen with scholarly works on textual editions.<ref>Yoav Tirosh, [https://www.academia.edu/69001270/Tearing_a_Text_Apart_Audience_Participation_and_Authorial_Intent_in_Ljósvetninga_saga_and_Tommy_Wiseau_s_The_Room "Tearing a Text Apart – Audience Participation and Authorial Intent in Ljósvetninga saga and Tommy Wiseau’s The Room"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128100529/https://www.academia.edu/69001270/Tearing_a_Text_Apart_Audience_Participation_and_Authorial_Intent_in_Lj%C3%B3svetninga_saga_and_Tommy_Wiseau_s_The_Room |date=January 28, 2023 }}, in Unwanted. Neglected Approaches, Characters, and Texts in Old Norse-Icelandic Saga Studies, edited by Andreas Schmidt and Daniela Hahn, 206-242. Münchner Nordistische Studien 50. Munich 2021.</ref> === Inconsistencies and narrative flaws === The script is characterized by numerous mood and personality shifts in characters. In analyzing the film's abrupt tone shifts, Sestero highlighted two scenes in particular. In the first scene, Johnny enters the rooftop in the middle of a tirade about being wrongfully accused of domestic abuse, only to become abruptly cheerful upon seeing Mark; a few moments later, he laughs inappropriately upon learning that a friend of Mark's had been severely beaten. On set, Sestero and script supervisor Sandy Schklair repeatedly tried to convince Wiseau that the line should not be delivered as comical, but Wiseau refused to refrain from laughing.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=66}} In the second instance, occurring later in the film, Mark attempts to kill Peter by throwing him off a roof after Peter expresses his belief that Mark is having an affair with Lisa; seconds later, however, Mark pulls Peter back from the edge of the roof, apologizes, and the two continue their previous [[conversation]] with no acknowledgment of what just occurred.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=36}} In addition to its [[Continuity (fiction)|continuity]] errors, critics and audiences have commented on the presence of several [[Plot (narrative)|plots]] and [[subplot|subplots]] that have been called inconsistent and irrelevant.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Jones|first1=Nate|title=''The Room'': The Awful Movie Everyone Wants to See|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1992396,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=July 27, 2017|date=May 26, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624173432/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1992396,00.html|archive-date=June 24, 2017}}</ref> ''[[The Portland Mercury]]'' has stated that a number of "plot threads are introduced, then instantly abandoned."<ref name="pm1">{{cite news|last1=Lannamann|first1=Ned|url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/interview-with-tommy-wiseau/Content?oid=1573119|title=Tommy Wiseau: The Complete Interview(s)|work=[[The Portland Mercury]]|date=August 13, 2009|access-date=June 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164319/https://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/interview-with-tommy-wiseau/Content?oid=1573119|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> In an early scene, halfway through a conversation about planning a birthday party for Johnny, Claudette off-handedly tells Lisa: "I got the results of the test back. I definitely have [[breast cancer]]."<ref name="onion-wiseau"/> The issue is casually dismissed and never revisited during the rest of the film.<ref name="pm1"/><ref name="onion-wiseau" /> Similarly, the audience never learns the details surrounding Denny's drug-related debt to Chris-R, or what led to their violent confrontation on the roof.<ref name="pm1"/><ref name="AVC1">{{cite news|last1=Tobias|first1=Scott|url=https://film.avclub.com/the-room-1798216096|title=''The Room''|work=The A.V. Club|date=March 26, 2009|access-date=June 19, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913043257/http://film.avclub.com/the-room-1798216096|archive-date=September 13, 2017}}</ref> Beyond being Johnny's friend, Mark's background receives no exposition; when he is first introduced, he claims to be "very busy" while sitting in a parked car in the middle of the day, with no explanation ever given as to his occupation or what he was doing. In ''The Disaster Artist'', Sestero states that he created a backstory for the character in which Mark was an [[undercover operation|undercover]] [[Vice#Vice squad|vice detective]], which Sestero felt united several otherwise disparate aspects of Mark's character, including the secretive nature of various aspects of his behavior&nbsp;– including marijuana use&nbsp;– his mood swings, and his handling of the Chris-R incident. Wiseau dismissed adding any reference to Mark's past to the script.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|pp=195–196}} The makers of ''The Room'' video game would later introduce a similar idea as part of a subplot involving Mark's unexplained backstory, much to Sestero's amusement.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=195}} At one point, the principal male characters congregate in an alley behind Johnny's apartment to play catch with a football while wearing tuxedos. When Mark arrives, he is revealed to have shaved his beard, and the camera slowly zooms in on his face while dramatic music plays on the soundtrack. Nothing that is said or occurs during the scene has any effect on the plot; the scene ends abruptly when the men decide to return to Johnny's apartment after Peter trips. Similar to most of the other plot points of the film, the event is introduced abruptly and is never referenced elsewhere in the story. Wiseau received enough questions about the scene that he decided to address it in a Q&A segment featured on the DVD release; rather than explaining the scene, though, Wiseau states only that playing football without the proper protective equipment is fun and challenging.<ref name="qa">''The Room'' DVD Bonus Features: Q&A</ref> Sestero has been questioned about the significance of Mark's shaving, though his only response for several years was "if people only knew."<ref name="weis">{{cite web|last1=Weisberg|first1=Sam|url=https://screencomment.com/2011/07/interview-gregsestero/|title=An Interview with The Room's Main Actor, Greg Sestero|work=Screen Comment|date=July 20, 2011|access-date=June 19, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164408/https://screencomment.com/2011/07/interview-gregsestero/|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> He describes in ''The Disaster Artist'' that Wiseau insisted he shave his beard on-set just so that Wiseau would have an excuse for Johnny to call Mark "Babyface," Wiseau's own nickname for Sestero, and that the revealing of beardless Mark would be "a moment." Sestero further detailed how the football-in-tuxedos scene was concocted on set by Wiseau, who never explained the significance of the scene to the cast or crew and insisted that the sequence be filmed at the expense of other, relevant scenes.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|pp=196–198}} == Release == === Promotion === According to Sestero, Wiseau submitted the film to [[Paramount Pictures]], hoping to get them as the distributor. Usually, it takes about two weeks to get a reply. ''The Room'', however, was rejected within 24 hours. Because of this, the film was promoted almost exclusively through a single [[billboard]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], located on [[Highland Avenue (Los Angeles)|Highland Avenue]] just north of Fountain Avenue, featuring an image Wiseau refers to as "Evil Man": an extreme [[close-up]] of his own face with one eye in mid-blink.<ref name="onion-wiseau"/><ref name="LAist"/> Although more conventional artwork was created for the film, featuring the main characters' faces emblazoned over the [[Golden Gate Bridge]], Wiseau chose the "Evil Man" for what he regarded as its provocative quality; around the time of the film's release, the image led many passers-by to believe that the movie was a [[horror film]].<ref name="onion-wiseau"/> Wiseau also paid for a small television and print campaign in and around Los Angeles,<ref name="ew2"/> and hired publicist [[Edward Lozzi]] in his efforts to promote and self-distribute the film after it was turned down by Paramount.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=263}} Despite the film's failure to enjoy immediate success, Wiseau paid to keep the billboard up for over five years, at the cost of {{US$|5000}} a month.{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=100}}<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Maloney|first1=Devon|title=10 Years After ''The Room'', Tommy Wiseau Is Still Hollywood's Biggest Mystery|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/09/tommy-wiseau-interview-room/|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|access-date=July 27, 2017|date=September 4, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727143021/https://www.wired.com/2013/09/tommy-wiseau-interview-room/|archive-date=July 27, 2017}}</ref> Its bizarre imagery and longevity led to it becoming a minor tourist attraction.<ref name="ew2"/>{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=262}} When asked how he managed to afford to keep the billboard up for so long in such a prominent location, Wiseau responded: "Well, we like the location, and we like the billboard. So, we feel that people should see ''The Room''. [...] we are selling DVDs, which are selling okay."<ref name="LAist"/> === Critical reception === ''The Room'' premiered on June 27, 2003, at the [[Laemmle Theatres|Laemmle]] [[Fairfax District, Los Angeles|Fairfax]] and [[Fallbrook Center|Fallbrook]] theaters in [[Los Angeles]]. Wiseau additionally arranged a screening for the cast and the press at one of the venues, renting a [[searchlight]] to sit in front of the theater, and arriving in a limousine.<ref name="ew2"/> Ticket buyers were given a free copy of the film's soundtrack on CD. Actress Robyn Paris described the audience laughing at the film, and ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' reporter Scott Foundas, who was also in attendance, would later write that the film prompted "most of its viewers to ask for their money back—before even 30 minutes [had] passed."<ref name="ew2"/> [[IFC (U.S. TV network)|IFC.com]] described Wiseau's speaking voice in the film as "[[Borat Sagdiyev|Borat]] trying to do an impression of [[Christopher Walken]] playing a mental patient."<ref name="ifc"/> ''[[The Guardian]]'' described the film as a mix of "[[Tennessee Williams]], [[Ed Wood]], and [[R. Kelly]]'s ''[[Trapped in the Closet]]''."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rose|first1=Steve|title=Is This the Worst Movie Ever Made?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/sep/10/cinema-the-room-cult|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=September 9, 2009|access-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620153459/https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/sep/10/cinema-the-room-cult|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> ''The Room'' was unanimously panned by critics for its poor acting (particularly Wiseau's), screenplay, dialogue, production values, score, direction, and cinematography. The film is described by several publications as one of the worst films ever made.<ref name="independent">{{cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Tim|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/tim-walker/the-couch-surfer-it-may-be-sublimely-rubbish-but-the-room-makes-audiences-happy-1752708.html|title=The Couch Surfer: 'It May Be Sublimely Rubbish, but The Room Makes Audiences Happy'|date=July 19, 2009|work=[[The Independent]]|location=London|access-date=June 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164120/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/tim-walker/the-couch-surfer-it-may-be-sublimely-rubbish-but-the-room-makes-audiences-happy-1752708.html|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Collis|first1=Clark|url=https://ew.com/article/2008/12/30/the-room-postsc/|title='The Room': Worst movie ever? Don't tell that to its suddenly in-demand star.|date=December 30, 2008|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=June 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164140/https://ew.com/article/2008/12/30/the-room-postsc/|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> On the review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds a 25% approval rating based on 32 reviews with an average score of 3.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A bona-fide classic of midnight cinema, Tommy Wiseau's misguided masterpiece subverts the rules of filmmaking with a boundless enthusiasm that renders such mundanities as acting, screenwriting, and cinematography utterly irrelevant. You will never see a football the same way again."<ref name="RT">{{cite web|title=The Room (2003)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_room/|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=February 11, 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620153506/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_room/|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 9 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike."<ref name="Metacritic">{{cite web|title=The Room Reviews|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-room?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c|website=Metacritic|access-date=December 10, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230195410/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-room?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c|archive-date=December 30, 2017}}</ref> Despite disdain from [[critic]]s, the film has retrospectively received ironic acclaim from audiences for its perceived shortcomings, with some viewers calling it the "best worst movie ever."<ref name="CNN"/> In 2013, ''[[The Atlantic]]''{{'}}s Adam Rosen wrote an article titled "Should Gloriously Terrible Movies Like ''The Room'' Be Considered '[[Outsider art|Outsider Art]]'?" where he made the argument "The label [of outsider art] has traditionally applied to painters and sculptors... but it's hard to see why it couldn't also refer to Wiseau or any other thwarted, un-self-aware filmmaker."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rosen|first1=Adam|title=Should Gloriously Terrible Movies Like ''The Room'' Be Considered 'Outsider Art'?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/10/should-gloriously-terrible-movies-like-em-the-room-em-be-considered-outsider-art/280393/|publisher=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=June 20, 2017|date=October 8, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620153509/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/10/should-gloriously-terrible-movies-like-em-the-room-em-be-considered-outsider-art/280393/|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> In a 2017 interview for a ''[[Vox (website)|Vox]]'' video, ''[[The Disaster Artist]]'' co-writer [[Tom Bissell]] explained his views on ''The Room''{{'}}s popularity, as well as his personal enjoyment of the film, by noting that:<ref name="Vox">{{cite web|last1=Petersen|first1=Dean|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k27mr6p-yhY|title=Why people keep watching the worst movie ever made|work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|publisher=[[YouTube]]|date=June 14, 2017|access-date=November 1, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115074945/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k27mr6p-yhY|archive-date=November 15, 2017}}</ref> {{blockquote| text = It is like a movie made by an alien who has never seen a movie, but has had movies thoroughly explained to him. There's not often that a work of film has every creative decision that's made in it on a moment-by-moment basis seemingly be the wrong one. [...] ''The Room'', to me, shatters the distinction between good and bad. Do I think it's a good movie? No. Do I think it's a strong movie that moves me on the level that art usually moves me? Absolutely not. But I can't say it's bad because it's so watchable. It's so fun. It's brought me so much joy. How can something that's bad do those things for me? }} === Midnight circuit === [[File:The Room Q&A at the Roxy Theatre.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Wiseau and Sestero with microphones on the theatre stage with multiple musicians behind them.|Wiseau and Sestero taking questions from audience members before a showing of ''The Room'']] [[File:GregSestero2024.jpg|thumb|Sestero poses with fans prior to a midnight screening of ''The Room'' in 2024]] ''The Room'' played in the Laemmle Fairfax and Fallbrook for the next two weeks, grossing a total of {{US$|1900|2003}} before it was pulled from circulation.<ref name="ew2"/><ref name="worst">{{cite web|title=The Worst Movie of All Time?|url=http://www.worldsstrangest.com/uncategorized/the-worst-movie-of-all-time/|publisher=World’s Strangest|access-date=June 20, 2017|date=December 27, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620153514/http://www.worldsstrangest.com/uncategorized/the-worst-movie-of-all-time/|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> Toward the end of its run, the Laemmle Fallbrook theatre displayed two signs on the inside of the ticket window in relation to the film: one that read "NO REFUNDS" and another citing a blurb from an early review: "This film is like getting stabbed in the head."{{sfn|Sestero|Bissell|2013|p=xiv}} During one showing in the second week of its run, one of the few audience members in attendance was [[5-Second Films]]' Michael Rousselet, who found unintentional humor in the film's poor dialogue and production values. After treating the screening as his "own private ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000|Mystery Science Theater]]''", Rousselet began encouraging friends to join him for future showings to mock the film, starting a word-of-mouth campaign that resulted in about 100 attending the film's final screening. Rousselet and his friends saw the film "four times in three days," and it was in these initial screenings that many of ''The Room'' traditions were born, such as the throwing of spoons and footballs during the film.<ref name="ew2"/> After the film was pulled from theaters, those who had attended the final showing began emailing Wiseau telling him how much they had enjoyed the film. Encouraged by the volume of messages he received, Wiseau booked a single [[Midnight movie|midnight screening]] of ''The Room'' in June 2004, which proved successful enough that Wiseau booked a second showing in July, and a third in August. These screenings proved to be even more successful and were followed by monthly screenings on the last Saturday of the month, which began selling out and continued up until the theatre was sold in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cellania|first1=Miss|title=Midnight Madness|url=http://www.neatorama.com/2010/12/27/the-worst-movie-of-all-time|website=Neatorama|date=December 27, 2010|publisher=AICN|access-date=March 28, 2018|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225185915/https://www.neatorama.com/2010/12/27/the-worst-movie-of-all-time|url-status=live}}</ref> Wiseau frequently made appearances at these screenings, and often engaged with fans afterwards. On the fifth anniversary of the film's premiere, it sold out every screen at the Sunset 5 and both Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero did Q&As afterward.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Collis|first1=Clark|title=The crazy cult of The Room|url=https://ew.com/article/2008/12/12/crazy-cult-room/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=June 16, 2017|archive-date=January 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101220112/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20246031,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The film was featured on the 2008 Range Life tour, and expanded to midnight screenings in several other cities soon after.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Macaulay|first1=Scott|title=Tour De Fours: Episode 5|url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/3836-tour-de-fours-episode-5/|website=Filmmaker Magazine|date=December 14, 2008|access-date=March 28, 2018|archive-date=June 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607033240/https://filmmakermagazine.com/3836-tour-de-fours-episode-5/|url-status=live}}</ref> Celebrity fans of the film included [[Paul Rudd]], [[David Cross]], [[Will Arnett]], [[Patton Oswalt]], [[Tim Heidecker]], [[Eric Wareheim]], [[Seth Rogen]], and [[James Franco|James]] and [[Dave Franco]]. [[Kristen Bell]] acquired a film reel and hosted private viewing parties;<ref>{{cite web|last1=Knegt|first1=Peter|title=Tommy Wiseau Goes Legit|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2011/06/tommy-wiseau-goes-legit-an-interview-with-the-man-behind-the-room-53844/|website=[[IndieWire]]|date=June 9, 2011|access-date=August 8, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719144249/http://www.indiewire.com/2011/06/tommy-wiseau-goes-legit-an-interview-with-the-man-behind-the-room-53844/|archive-date=July 19, 2016}}</ref> ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' creator [[Rob Thomas (writer)|Rob Thomas]] would also slip references into episodes "as much as possible."<ref name="ew2"/> The film eventually developed national and international cult status, with Wiseau arranging screenings around the United States and in Canada, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.<ref name="vulture"/> By April 2016, the film had been playing at the [[Mayfair Theatre, Ottawa|Mayfair Theatre]] in [[Ottawa, Canada]] for 80 consecutive months.<ref name="ottawalife/rick-harper-the-room">{{cite news |last1=Whittier |first1=Keith |title=Ottawa Filmmaker Rick Harper's Time in The Room |url=https://www.ottawalife.com/article/ottawa-filmmaker-rick-harpers-time-in-the-room/ |access-date=15 August 2023 |work=Ottawa Life Magazine |date=25 April 2016 |archive-date=August 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815025102/https://www.ottawalife.com/article/ottawa-filmmaker-rick-harpers-time-in-the-room/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="mayfairtheatre/the-room"> *{{cite web |title=Are you prepared to enter The Room? |url=http://mayfairtheatre.ca/current-schedule/are-you-prepared-to-enter-the-room/ |website=The Mayfair Theatre |access-date=15 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508111444/http://mayfairtheatre.ca/current-schedule/are-you-prepared-to-enter-the-room/ |archive-date=8 May 2013}} *{{cite web |title=The Room |url=http://mayfairtheatre.ca/movies/Room-The-/ |website=The Mayfair Theatre |access-date=15 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015051315/http://mayfairtheatre.ca/movies/Room-The-/ |archive-date=15 October 2016 |quote=Halloween month edition, and our 86th Consecutive Month screening The Room, on Saturday October 15th! ... <!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20111224141640/http://bank.mayfairtheatre.ca/movies/Room-The- -->PARTICIPACTION MOCK-ALONG SCREENING}} *{{cite web |title=Weekly Schedule |url=http://mayfairtheatre.ca/schedule/ |website=The Mayfair Theatre |access-date=15 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404045101/http://mayfairtheatre.ca/schedule/ |archive-date=4 April 2016}} *{{cite web |title=Weekly Schedule |url=http://mayfairtheatre.ca/schedule/ |website=The Mayfair Theatre |access-date=15 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024013019/http://mayfairtheatre.ca/schedule/|archive-date=2011-10-24}} </ref> The film had regular showings in many theaters worldwide, with many as a monthly event.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theroommovie.com/screeningspop.html|title=Showings|publisher=Wiseau-Films|access-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004130/http://theroommovie.com/screeningspop.html|archive-date=June 6, 2017}}</ref> Fans interact with the film in a similar fashion to ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]''; audience members dress up as their favorite characters, throw plastic spoons in reference to an unexplained framed photo of a spoon on a table in Johnny's living room, toss footballs to each other from short distances, and yell insulting comments about the quality of the film as well as lines from the film itself.<ref name="independent"/><ref name="ew2"/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Bather|first1=Luke|title=Everything You Need to Know About Cult Film 'The Room' & Disaster Artist Tommy Wiseau|url=https://www.highsnobiety.com/2017/03/16/the-room-tommy-wiseau/|website=[[Highsnobiety]]|access-date=July 27, 2017|date=March 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727141316/http://www.highsnobiety.com/2017/03/16/the-room-tommy-wiseau/|archive-date=July 27, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Barton|first1=Steve|title=Motion Picture Purgatory: The Room|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/14773/motion-picture-purgatory-the-room/|website=Dread Central|access-date=June 16, 2017|date=December 10, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164205/https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/14773/motion-picture-purgatory-the-room/|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> Wiseau has claimed that it was his intent for audiences to find humor in the film, although viewers and some of the cast members generally have viewed it as a poorly made [[Drama (film and television)|drama]].<ref name="NPR">{{cite news|last1=Patel|first1=Nihar|title='The Room': A Cult Hit So Bad, It's Good (audio)|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5384997|work=[[National Public Radio]]|date=May 5, 2006|access-date=June 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619164150/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5384997|archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Paris|first1=Robyn|title=How 'The Room' Turned Me Into a Cult Movie 'Star'|magazine=[[Backstage (magazine)|Backstage]]|date=April 30, 2012|url=https://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/first-person/how-the-room-turned-me-into-a-cult-movie-star/|access-date=June 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802041544/https://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/first-person/how-the-room-turned-me-into-a-cult-movie-star/|archive-date=August 2, 2017}}</ref> === Home media === ''The Room'' was released on [[DVD]] on November 4, 2003, and [[Blu-ray]] in December 2012.<ref name="vulture"/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Gencarelli|first1=Mike|title=Blu-ray Review "The Room"|url=http://mediamikes.com/2013/01/blu-ray-review-the-room/|website=MediaMikes|access-date=November 1, 2017|date=January 2, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101163659/http://mediamikes.com/2013/01/blu-ray-review-the-room/|archive-date=November 1, 2017}}</ref> The DVD's special features include an interview with Wiseau, who is asked questions by an off-screen Greg Sestero. Wiseau sits directly in front of a fireplace, with a mantle cluttered by various props from the film;<ref name="ifc">{{cite web|last1=Singer|first1=Matt|work=[[IFC (U.S. TV network)|IFC]]|url=http://www.ifc.com/2009/03/a-primer-on-the-room|title="Everyone Betray Me!": A Primer on 'The Room'|date=March 24, 2009|access-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620153452/http://www.ifc.com/2009/03/a-primer-on-the-room|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> next to him sits a large framed [[Film poster|theatrical poster]] for the film. A few of Wiseau's answers are dubbed in, although it is evident that the dubbed responses match what he was originally saying. Wiseau fails to answer several of the questions, instead offering [[Non sequitur (literary device)|non sequiturs]].<ref name="highdef">{{cite web|last1=Bennett|first1=Eric|title=The Room Blu-ray Review|url=http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/8435/the_room.html|publisher=High-Def Digest|access-date=July 18, 2017|language=en|date=February 3, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718165723/http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/8435/the_room.html|archive-date=July 18, 2017}}</ref> Among the outtakes included on the Blu-ray is an alternate version of the Chris-R scene, set in a back alley; instead of tossing a football, Denny is playing basketball and attempts to get the drug dealer to "shoot some [[H-O-R-S-E]]" with him to distract him from the debt. Another bonus feature on the Blu-ray is a more than half-hour long [[Fly on the wall|fly-on-the-wall]] style documentary about the making of ''The Room''. The documentary includes no narration, very little dialogue, and only one interview (with cast member Carolyn Minnott), and consists largely of clips of the crew preparing to shoot.<ref name="highdef"/> Wiseau first announced plans in April 2011 for a [[3D film|3D]] version of ''The Room'', scanned from the [[35mm movie film|35mm negative]].<ref name="varsity"/> Later, in 2018, he revealed his intentions to reshoot the film in 3D, citing cost-effectiveness reasons.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-02 |title=EXCLUSIVE: Tommy Wiseau Wants to RESHOOT The Room in 3D |url=https://screenrant.com/the-room-3d-reshoot-tommy-wiseau/ |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=ScreenRant |language=en-US |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502022904/https://screenrant.com/the-room-3d-reshoot-tommy-wiseau/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The Room'' was uploaded to [[YouTube]] by Wiseau on September 21, 2018,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Little |first1=Morgan |title=You can now watch The Room for free on YouTube |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/you-can-now-watch-the-room-for-free-on-youtube/ |website=CNET |access-date=September 23, 2018 |archive-date=January 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127013516/https://www.cnet.com/news/you-can-now-watch-the-room-for-free-on-youtube/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but was removed the day afterwards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tommy Wiseau's wonderfully terrible 'The Room' is free on YouTube (updated) |url=https://www.engadget.com/2018-09-22-the-room-on-youtube.html |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=Engadget |language=en-US |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502022904/https://www.engadget.com/2018-09-22-the-room-on-youtube.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ===20th anniversary re-release=== [[Fathom Events]] theatrically re-released ''The Room'' for its 20th anniversary on June 27, 2023. Nationwide screenings were preceded by an exclusive special introduction by Wiseau, reflecting on the film's legacy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cult Classic 'The Room' Gets 20th Anniversary Screenings |url=https://collider.com/the-room-20th-anniversary-screenings/ |last=Peralta |first=Diego |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |date=May 17, 2023 |access-date=June 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629081321/https://collider.com/the-room-20th-anniversary-screenings/ |url-status=live }}</ref> == ''The Disaster Artist'' == {{Main article|The Disaster Artist{{!}}''The Disaster Artist''|The Disaster Artist (film){{!}}''The Disaster Artist'' (film)}} In June 2011, it was announced that Greg Sestero had signed a deal with [[Simon & Schuster]] to write a book based on his experiences making the film. The book, titled ''The Disaster Artist'', was published in October 2013.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Collis |first1=Clark |date=May 26, 2011 |title=Greg Sestero memoir The Room |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url=https://ew.com/article/2011/05/26/greg-sestero-the-room-tommy-wiseau/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620153723/https://ew.com/article/2011/05/26/greg-sestero-the-room-tommy-wiseau/ |archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> The book was made into an audiobook with Sestero's reading in May 2014<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-05-27 |title=You Have To Listen To Greg Sestero's Tommy Wiseau Impression |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/greg-sestero-tommy-wiseau-impression_n_5399103 |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=HuffPost |language=en |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502022905/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/greg-sestero-tommy-wiseau-impression_n_5399103 |url-status=live }}</ref> and, in November 2014, won for Best Non-Fiction at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.<ref>{{cite web |date=2014 |title=2014 Winners - 7th National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards |url=http://lapressclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2014-National-Arts-Entertainment-Journalism-Award-Winners.pdf |publisher=[[Los Angeles Press Club]] |access-date=October 12, 2017 |archive-date=October 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012153624/http://lapressclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2014-National-Arts-Entertainment-Journalism-Award-Winners.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[The Disaster Artist (film)|film adaptation of ''The Disaster Artist'']] was announced in February 2014, produced by [[Seth Rogen]] and directed by [[James Franco]].<ref name="deadline.com">{{cite web |date=February 7, 2014 |title=James Franco's Production Company Acquires Book About So-Bad-It's-Good Cult Movie 'The Room' |url=https://deadline.com/2014/02/james-franco-disaster-artist-movie-the-room-679560/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620173400/https://deadline.com/2014/02/james-franco-disaster-artist-movie-the-room-679560/ |archive-date=June 20, 2017 |access-date=June 20, 2017 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref> Franco described ''The Disaster Artist'' as "a combination of ''[[Boogie Nights]]'' and ''[[The Master (2012 film)|The Master]]''."<ref name="deadline.com" /> The film stars Franco as Wiseau and his brother [[Dave Franco]] as Sestero, with the script written by ''[[The Fault in Our Stars (film)|The Fault in Our Stars]]'' screenwriters [[Scott Neustadter]] and [[Michael H. Weber]]. On October 15, 2015, it was announced Rogen would co-star (playing Sandy Schklair), and cinematographer [[Brandon Trost]] served as the DP.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sneider |first1=Jeff |date=October 12, 2015 |title=Scott Haze, James Franco Discuss Their New LA Theater, Upcoming Projects (Exclusive) |url=https://www.thewrap.com/james-franco-scott-haze-la-rattlestick-theater-rant-disaster-artist/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620173525/https://www.thewrap.com/james-franco-scott-haze-la-rattlestick-theater-rant-disaster-artist/ |archive-date=June 20, 2017 |access-date=June 20, 2017 |work=[[TheWrap]]}}</ref> On October 29, 2015, it was announced that [[Warner Bros.]] and [[New Line Cinema]] would distribute ''The Disaster Artist''. Filming began December 7, 2015.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Han |first1=Angie |date=December 7, 2015 |title=Josh Hutcherson Joins James Franco's 'The Disaster Artist', About the Making of Tommy Wiseau's 'The Room' |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/the-disaster-artist-josh-hutcherson/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620173532/https://www.slashfilm.com/the-disaster-artist-josh-hutcherson/ |archive-date=June 20, 2017 |access-date=June 20, 2017 |publisher=[[/Film]]}}</ref> A work-in-progress version was screened at [[South by Southwest]] in March 2017, with the [[wide release]] beginning on December 8, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Busch |first1=Anita |date=May 15, 2017 |title=A24 & New Line To Release James Franco's 'The Disaster Artist' In December |url=https://deadline.com/2017/05/james-franco-seth-rogen-comedy-the-disaster-artist-release-date-a24-new-line-1202094228/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623162908/https://deadline.com/2017/05/james-franco-seth-rogen-comedy-the-disaster-artist-release-date-a24-new-line-1202094228/ |archive-date=June 23, 2017 |access-date=June 23, 2017 |website=Deadline Hollywood}}</ref> The movie opened with "impressive" box office returns<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=2017-12-08 |title=Portrait Of A 'Disaster Artist': James Franco Movie A Hot Ticket This Weekend At The B.O. |url=https://deadline.com/2017/12/the-disaster-artist-james-franco-seth-rogen-box-office-breakout-1202222781/ |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=Deadline |language=en-US |archive-date=September 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906170216/https://deadline.com/2017/12/the-disaster-artist-james-franco-seth-rogen-box-office-breakout-1202222781/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and was nominated for the 2018 [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]].<ref>{{Cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2018-01-23 |title=Oscars: 'Shape of Water' Leads With 13 Noms |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/oscar-nominations-2018-complete-list-nominees-1067893/ |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405180505/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/oscar-nominations-2018-complete-list-nominees-1067893/ |url-status=live }}</ref> == Other media == === Books === Besides ''The Disaster Artist,'' a second [[memoir]], ''Yes, I Directed The Room: The Truth About Directing the "Citizen Kane of Bad Movies"'', written by Schklair, was published on December 4, 2017, in which he asserts his desire to receive credit for directing the film.<ref>{{cite book|title=Yes, I Directed The Room: The Truth About Directing the "Citizen Kane of Bad Movies"|id={{ASIN|1775175502|country=au}}}}</ref> === Films === A Canadian [[Documentary film|documentary]] about the film, titled ''[[Room Full of Spoons]]'' and directed by Rick Harper, was initially given a brief theatrical release in April 2016. However, the film was pulled from theaters, and plans for a wide release in conjunction with the release of ''The Disaster Artist'' were hampered when it became the subject of legal proceedings by Wiseau, who claimed [[copyright infringement]] and [[defamation]]. Ultimately, Wiseau's lawsuit was dismissed in 2020 by [[Ontario Superior Court of Justice]] judge [[Paul Schabas]], who ordered Wiseau to pay the filmmakers nearly $1 million [[Canadian dollar|CAD]] in countersuit damages and lost revenue.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Paul Schabas, J.) |title=Wiseau Studio, LLC et al. v. Harper et al., 2020 ONSC 2504 |url=https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2020/2020onsc2504/2020onsc2504.html |website=CanLII |access-date=2 June 2020 |date=23 April 2020 |archive-date=September 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912021705/https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2020/2020onsc2504/2020onsc2504.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/film/article/tommy_wiseau_ordered_to_pay_nearly_1_million_to_canadian_documentary_filmmakers|title=Tommy Wiseau Ordered to Pay Nearly $1 Million to Canadian Documentary Filmmakers|author=Brock Thiessen|publisher=[[Exclaim!]]|date=May 4, 2020|access-date=May 5, 2020|archive-date=March 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310143453/https://exclaim.ca/film/article/tommy_wiseau_ordered_to_pay_nearly_1_million_to_canadian_documentary_filmmakers|url-status=live}}</ref> ====Remake==== {{Main|The Room remake}} A remake of ''The Room'' with [[Bob Odenkirk]] playing Tommy Wiseau's role is in post-production.<ref>{{cite web|last=Scott|first=Ryan|date=March 9, 2023|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/1222176/bob-odenkirk-is-playing-tommy-wiseaus-role-in-a-greenscreen-remake-of-the-room-for-charity/|title=Bob Odenkirk Is Playing Tommy Wiseau's Role In A Greenscreen Remake Of The Room (For Charity)|publisher=Slashfilm|accessdate=March 9, 2023|archive-date=March 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311223727/https://www.slashfilm.com/1222176/bob-odenkirk-is-playing-tommy-wiseaus-role-in-a-greenscreen-remake-of-the-room-for-charity/|url-status=live}}</ref> === Video game === {{Main|The Room Tribute}} In September 2010, [[Newgrounds]] owner [[Tom Fulp]] released a [[Browser game|Flash game]] tribute, in the form of a [[Fourth generation of video game consoles|16-bit]] styled [[adventure game]] played entirely from Johnny's point of view. The game's artwork was provided by staff member Jeff "JohnnyUtah" Bandelin, with music transcribed by animator [[Chris O'Neill (YouTuber)|Chris O'Neill]] from the Mladen Milicevic score and soundtrack.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Ward|first1=Kate|title='The Room: The Game': Good thinking!|url=https://ew.com/article/2010/09/06/the-room-video-game/|access-date=June 20, 2017|date=September 6, 2010|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620173536/https://ew.com/article/2010/09/06/the-room-video-game/|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> === Live performances === On June 10, 2010, the [[AFI Silver|AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center]] presented a live play/reading based on the film's original script. Wiseau reprised his role of Johnny and was joined by Sestero playing the role of Mark.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/silver/new/nowplaying/events.aspx#rooml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518171402/http://www.afi.com/silver/new/nowplaying/events.aspx|title=The Room: Live announcement|publisher=[[AFI Silver]]|archive-date=May 18, 2010|access-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> In 2011, Wiseau mentioned plans for a [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] adaptation of the film,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rao|first1=Mallika|title='The Room': Tommy Wiseau On His Cult Hit, Broadway And Why Fans Are Finally Starting To 'Get It'|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/07/the-room-tommy-wiseau_n_949744.html|publisher=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=July 27, 2017|date=September 7, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727151319/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/07/the-room-tommy-wiseau_n_949744.html|archive-date=July 27, 2017}}</ref> in which he would appear only on opening night: "It will be similar to what you see in the movie, except it will be musical. As well as you will see... like, for example, Johnny, we could have maybe 10 Johnnys at the same time singing or playing football. So, the decision have to be made at the time when we actually doing choreography, 'cause I'll be doing choreography, as well I'll be in it only one time, that's it, as Johnny."<ref name="varsity"/> He mentioned the plans again during a 2016 interview, describing his idea for it to be a "musical/comedy."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Yakas|first1=Ben|title=An Interview With Tommy Wiseau, Creator Of The Greatest Disasterpiece: 'The Room'|url=http://gothamist.com/2016/07/28/tommy_wiseau_the_room_interview.php|work=[[Gothamist]]|access-date=November 1, 2017|date=July 28, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108020244/http://gothamist.com/2016/07/28/tommy_wiseau_the_room_interview.php|archive-date=November 8, 2016}}</ref> === Web series === On October 21, 2014, cast member Robyn Paris launched a [[Kickstarter]] campaign to raise the budget for her comedy [[mockumentary]] web series, ''The Room Actors: Where Are They Now? A Mockumentary''. On completion, the campaign had raised {{US$|31556|2014}} from 385 backers.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Paris|first1=Robyn|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/274372843/the-room-actors-where-are-they-now-a-mockumentary/updates|title=The Room Actors: Where Are They Now? A Mockumentary|website=[[Kickstarter]]|date=November 22, 2014|access-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620173546/https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/274372843/the-room-actors-where-are-they-now-a-mockumentary/updates|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> Although a number of the original cast appeared in the series, Wiseau, Sestero and Holmes are not involved.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Robertson|first1=Murray|title=Interview: The Room actress Robyn Paris&nbsp;– 'I think we all went through the various stages of grief'|url=https://www.list.co.uk/article/86140-interview-the-room-actress-robyn-paris-i-think-we-all-went-through-the-various-stages-of-grief/|work=[[The List (magazine)|The List]]|access-date=October 30, 2017|date=November 8, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030180442/https://www.list.co.uk/article/86140-interview-the-room-actress-robyn-paris-i-think-we-all-went-through-the-various-stages-of-grief/|archive-date=October 30, 2017}}</ref> The series premiered at the [[Raindance Film Festival|24th Raindance Film Festival]] on September 30, 2016,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://calendar.raindancefestival.org/films/the-room-actors-where-are-they-now|title=The Room Actors: Where Are They Now?|publisher=[[Raindance Film Festival]]|access-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620173557/http://calendar.raindancefestival.org/films/the-room-actors-where-are-they-now|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Room Actors: Where Are They Now?|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4556372/|website=[[IMDb]]|access-date=June 20, 2017|date=2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620173601/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4556372/|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> and debuted on the website [[Funny or Die]] on November 30, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.funnyordie.com/robynparis|title=The Room Actors: Where Are They Now? (robynparis)&nbsp;– Funny Or Die|website=Funny Or Die|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034056/http://www.funnyordie.com/robynparis|archive-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref> === Musicals === A satirical fan-made musical called ''OH HAI!: The Rise of Chris-R'', written by Tony Orozco and Peter Von Sholly, was released on [[SoundCloud]] on July 27, 2017. The work builds on the backstory of the film, particularly the character of Denny and his relationship with Chris-R.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Oh Hail ! The Room Musical|url=http://www.ohhaithemusical.com/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230195411/http://www.ohhaithemusical.com/|archive-date=2017-12-30|access-date=2020-09-27}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2023}} In 2018, ''Oh Hi, Johnny! The ‘Room’sical Parody Musical'' premiered at the [[Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival|Orlando Fringe Festival]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Russon |first1=Gabrielle |title=Review: Oh, Hi Johnny The Roomsical Parody Musical - Fringe 2018 |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/arts-and-theater/orlando-fringe/os-et-oh-hi-johnny-the-roomsical-parody-musical-fringe-festival-2018-story.html |publisher=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |access-date=February 4, 2020 |date=May 18, 2018 |archive-date=February 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204150123/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/arts-and-theater/orlando-fringe/os-et-oh-hi-johnny-the-roomsical-parody-musical-fringe-festival-2018-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Written by Bryan Jager and Alex Syiek, the show subsequently ran at the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival in February 2019. The work explores what if Tommy Wiseau actually made a stage adaptation of ''The Room''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Photo Flash: OH HI, JOHNNY! Tears Audiences Apart At The Chicago Musical Theatre Festival |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/Photo-Flash-OH-HI-JOHNNY-Tears-Audiences-Apart-At-The-Chicago-Musical-Theatre-Festival-20190212 |website=Broadway World |access-date=February 4, 2020 |language=en |date=February 12, 2019 |archive-date=February 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204150126/https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/Photo-Flash-OH-HI-JOHNNY-Tears-Audiences-Apart-At-The-Chicago-Musical-Theatre-Festival-20190212 |url-status=live }}</ref> == Legacy == The comedy show ''[[Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!]]'' on [[Adult Swim]] featured Wiseau prominently in the fourth season episode titled ''Tommy''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wagner|first1=Rebecca|title=10 Things You Didn't Know About Tommy Wiseau, the Man Responsible for "The Room"Wiseau Clashed with Tim & Eric|url=https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2014/12/tommy-wiseau-the-room-director-facts/tommy-wiseau-clashed-with-tim-and-eric|publisher=[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]|access-date=July 27, 2017|language=en|date=December 3, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811201143/https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2014/12/tommy-wiseau-the-room-director-facts/tommy-wiseau-clashed-with-tim-and-eric|archive-date=August 11, 2017}}</ref> Recruited as a "guest director", Wiseau is interviewed in mockumentary style, along with the show's leading actors, during the production of a fake film titled ''The Pig Man''. Two scenes from ''The Room'' are featured during the episode. Adult Swim broadcast the movie three times from 2009 to 2011 as part of their [[April Fools' Day]] programming. In 2012, they showed the first twenty seconds of the movie before switching to a broadcast of the then-defunct [[programming block]] [[Toonami]] for the remainder of the night – the popularity of this prank led Adult Swim to bring the block back on May 26 of that year.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cobb|first1=Kayla|title=10 of The Craziest And Most Controversial Things Adult Swim Has Done|url=https://decider.com/2017/04/18/crazy-and-controversial-adult-swim-moments/|website=Decider|publisher=[[New York Post]]|access-date=July 18, 2017|date=April 18, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718140257/https://decider.com/2017/04/18/crazy-and-controversial-adult-swim-moments/|archive-date=July 18, 2017}}</ref> On June 18, 2009, a [[RiffTrax]] for ''The Room'' was released, featuring commentary by [[Michael J. Nelson]], [[Bill Corbett]] and [[Kevin Murphy (actor)|Kevin Murphy]], formerly of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Corbett|first1=Bill|last2=Murphy|first2=Kevin|last3=Nelson|first3=Mike|url=https://www.rifftrax.com/the-room|title=The Room&nbsp;– RiffTrax|work=RiffTrax|date=June 17, 2009|access-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620173606/http://www.rifftrax.com/the-room|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> This was followed up with a live theater show by RiffTrax on May 6, 2015,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fathomevents.com/events/rifftrax-live-the-room|title=RiffTrax Live The Room|work=[[Fathom Events]]|access-date=June 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621145752/https://www.fathomevents.com/events/rifftrax-live-the-room|archive-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref> which was shown in 700 theaters across the U.S. and Canada. The show screened once more on January 28, 2016, as part of the Best of RiffTrax Live series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fathomevents.com/events/best-of-rifftrax-live-the-room|title=Best of RiffTrax Live The Room|work=Fathom Events|access-date=July 18, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718134219/https://www.fathomevents.com/events/best-of-rifftrax-live-the-room|archive-date=July 18, 2017}}</ref> On his 2009 DVD ''My Weakness Is Strong'', comedian [[Patton Oswalt]] parodied ''The Room'' with a fake [[infomercial]]. The spoof also features a [[cameo appearance|cameo]] from [[Jon Hamm]].<ref name="battle">{{cite magazine|last1=Snierson|first1=Dan|date=February 11, 2011|title=The Battle Over 'The Room'|url=https://ew.com/article/2011/02/11/battle-over-room/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|issue=1142|access-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620153441/https://ew.com/article/2011/02/11/battle-over-room/|archive-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref> In 2010, the film was mocked on the Internet comedy series ''[[Nostalgia Critic]]'', which highlighted the film's bad acting and writing but encouraged viewers to see the movie: "It truly is one of those films you have to see to believe."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-the-room/|title=The Room&nbsp;– Nostalgia Critic|work=[[Nostalgia Critic]]|date=July 14, 2010|access-date=June 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621145758/https://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-the-room/|archive-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref> The episode was taken down following claims of copyright infringement from Wiseau-Films. It was replaced by a short video titled "''The Tommy Wi-Show''", in which host Doug Walker, dressed as Wiseau, mocked the threatened legal actions. The main review was later reinstated.<ref name="channel" /> Both Greg Sestero and Juliette Danielle have praised the review, and Sestero later made several cameo appearances on ''The Nostalgia Critic'', starting with the episode "Dawn of the Commercials", where he reprised his role of Mark.<ref name="channel">{{cite web|url=https://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-dawn-of-the-commercials/|title=Nostalgia Critic: Dawn of the Commercials|work=Nostalgia Critic|date=November 12, 2013|access-date=June 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621145808/https://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-dawn-of-the-commercials/|archive-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref> Both Wiseau and Sestero appeared in separate episodes on Walker's talk show, ''Shut Up and Talk''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Walker|first1=Doug|title=Shut up and Talk: Greg Sestero|url=https://channelawesome.com/shut-up-and-talk-greg-sestero/|publisher=Channel Awesome|access-date=June 21, 2017|date=January 16, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621145813/https://channelawesome.com/shut-up-and-talk-greg-sestero/|archive-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Tommy"/> In 2011, [[Greg DeLiso]] and [[Peter Litvin]] directed and produced a video titled "The Room Rap", telling the story of ''The Room''<nowiki/>'s production while mocking the green screen work and sub-par acting found in the movie.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVwEZnKURWY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/HVwEZnKURWY |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=The Room Rap|website=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}}</ref> The video was listed in the Acknowledgements of [[Greg Sestero]]'s 2014 book ''The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made''. In Wiseau's 2014 sitcom pilot ''[[The Neighbors (2015 TV series)|The Neighbors]]'', the character Troy watches ''The Room'' in a scene.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Meet the Neighbors|url=https://www.hulu.com/the-neighbors-2015|access-date=July 18, 2017|series=The Neighbors|series-link=The Neighbors (2015 TV series)|network=[[Hulu]]|date=September 26, 2014|season=1|number=1|language=en|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718134620/https://www.hulu.com/the-neighbors-2015|archive-date=July 18, 2017}}</ref> In 2015, Sestero starred in the 5-Second Films feature ''[[Dude Bro Party Massacre III]]'', directed by Michael Rousselet, the [[index case|patient zero]] of ''The Room'' cult movement.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news|last1=Cassaras|first1=John|title=A 'Room' with a cult following|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/14/the.room/index.html|access-date=August 10, 2017|work=[[CNN]]|date=January 14, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810160745/http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/14/the.room/index.html|archive-date=August 10, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Collis|first1=Clark|title=Dude Bro Party Massacre III trailer: Patton Oswalt explains why the movie isn't what it seems|url=https://ew.com/article/2015/05/18/patton-oswalt-dude-bro-party-massacre-iii-exclusive-trailer/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=July 18, 2017|date=May 18, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718135708/https://ew.com/article/2015/05/18/patton-oswalt-dude-bro-party-massacre-iii-exclusive-trailer/|archive-date=July 18, 2017}}</ref> In the 2016 [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] comic book ''[[Spider-Man]]/[[Deadpool]]'' #12, [[Carol Danvers|Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)]] receives a DVD copy of ''The Room'' as a Christmas gift from Deadpool, but complains that she actually wanted ''[[Room (2015 film)|Room]]'', starring [[Brie Larson]]. She also goes on to state that Tommy Wiseau is actually an alien criminal wanted by the [[Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team)|Guardians of the Galaxy]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Spider-Man/Deadpool #12 |date=December 28, 2016 |publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]}}</ref> The Sunday, July 5, 2015, installment of [[Amy Dickinson]]'s advice column ''Ask Amy'' unwittingly featured a [[hoax]] letter that derived its situational premise from ''The Room'' and, even after being edited for publication, retained phrases from the film's dialogue;<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dickinson|first1=Amy|author-link1=Amy Dickinson|title=Ask Amy: She hasn't been faithful to me|url=http://www.omaha.com/living/ask-amy-she-hasn-t-been-faithful-to-me/article_293c642e-1604-5a99-9ce9-7150c024bdb5.html|access-date=June 21, 2017|work=[[Omaha World-Herald]]|date=July 5, 2015|archive-date=July 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706025318/https://www.omaha.com/living/ask-amy-she-hasn-t-been-faithful-to-me/article_293c642e-1604-5a99-9ce9-7150c024bdb5.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Dickinson addressed the hoax in the following Saturday's edition of July 11 of the [[NPR|National Public Radio]] comedy and quiz show ''[[Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!]]'', where she appears as a regular panelist,<ref>{{cite news|title=Bluff The Listener|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/07/11/422036840/bluff-the-listener|publisher=[[Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!]]|access-date=June 21, 2017|date=July 11, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621145827/http://www.npr.org/2015/07/11/422036840/bluff-the-listener|archive-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref> and in her July 20, 2015 column.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dickinson|first1=Amy|title=Ask Amy: Dysfunctional relationship should not progress to marriage|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ask-amy-dysfunctional-relationship-should-not-progress-to-marriage/2015/06/23/cc57c0c8-1696-11e5-9518-f9e0a8959f32_story.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=June 21, 2017|date=July 10, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621145832/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ask-amy-dysfunctional-relationship-should-not-progress-to-marriage/2015/06/23/cc57c0c8-1696-11e5-9518-f9e0a8959f32_story.html|archive-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Dickinson|first1=Amy|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ask-amy-father-and-sons-flee-when-mom-starts-to-attack/2015/07/10/56002952-2725-11e5-b72c-2b7d516e1e0e_story.html|title=Ask Amy: Father and sons flee when mom starts to attack|date=July 20, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=June 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621145836/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ask-amy-father-and-sons-flee-when-mom-starts-to-attack/2015/07/10/56002952-2725-11e5-b72c-2b7d516e1e0e_story.html|archive-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref> Comic #1400 of the online comic ''[[xkcd]]'', which appeared July 28, 2014, presented a satirical equivalence between Wiseau and still-unidentified hijacker [[D. B. Cooper]], with comparisons between the money, age, and speaking style of the two, and speculated on a connection between Wiseau's background and Cooper's fate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://xkcd.com/1400/|title=D.B. Cooper|last=Munroe|first=Randall|date=July 28, 2014|website=xkcd.com|access-date=June 1, 2018|archive-date=June 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621154606/https://xkcd.com/1400/|url-status=live}}</ref> == See also == * [[List of films considered the worst]] == Further reading == *{{cite news |last1=Barr |first1=Johanna |last2=Victor |first2=Daniel |title=You Have Questions About 'The Room.' Tommy Wiseau Has Answers, Kind Of.... |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/08/arts/tommy-wiseau-the-room.html |access-date=14 August 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=8 December 2017 |language=en}} == References == {{Reflist}} == Sources == {{Refbegin}} *{{cite book|last1=Sestero|first1=Greg|last2=Bissell|first2=Tom|author-link1=Greg Sestero|author-link2=Tom Bissell|title=[[The Disaster Artist|The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made]]|date=October 2013|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4516-6119-4|edition=First Hardcover}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140107232058/http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/film/staff/macdowell/ James MacDowell] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20140622135734/http://www2.hull.ac.uk/fass/film-studies/staff/james-zborowski.aspx James Zborowski], [https://intensitiescultmedia.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/j-macdowell-j-zborowski-the-aesthetics-of-so-bad-its-good1.pdf "The Aesthetics of 'So Bad It's Good': Value, Intention, and The Room"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425010719/https://intensitiescultmedia.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/j-macdowell-j-zborowski-the-aesthetics-of-so-bad-its-good1.pdf |date=April 25, 2018 }}, Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media, 6 (Autumn/Winter 2013), pp.&nbsp;1–30. * [https://research.hud.ac.uk/ourstaff/profile/index.php?staffid=1469 Richard McCulloch] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107061214/https://research.hud.ac.uk/ourstaff/profile/index.php?staffid=1469 |date=January 7, 2018 }}, [http://www.participations.org/Volume%208/Issue%202/2d%20McCulloch.pdf "'Most People Bring Their Own Spoons': The Room's Participatory Audiences as Comedy Mediators"] {{Webarchive|url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.participations.org/Volume%208/Issue%202/2d%20McCulloch.pdf |date=October 9, 2022 }}, Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 8.2 (November 2011), pp.&nbsp;189–218. {{Refend}} == External links == {{sister project links|d=Q533383|c=Category:The Room (film)|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|s=no|wikt=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no}} * {{official website}} * {{IMDb title}} * {{Metacritic film}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes|the_room}} * {{Mojo title|theroom}} {{Tommy Wiseau}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Room}} [[Category:2003 romantic drama films]] [[Category:2003 films]] [[Category:American independent films]] [[Category:American romantic drama films]] [[Category:2000s English-language films]] [[Category:Films about infidelity]] [[Category:Film and television memes]] [[Category:Films directed by Tommy Wiseau]] [[Category:Films produced by Tommy Wiseau]] [[Category:Films set in San Francisco]] [[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]] [[Category:Films shot in San Francisco]] [[Category:Films with screenplays by Tommy Wiseau]] [[Category:2003 directorial debut films]] [[Category:2003 independent films]] [[Category:2000s American films]] [[Category:Semi-autobiographical films]]'