The Room is a 2003 American independent 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 melodramatic love triangle between amiable banker Johnny (Wiseau), his deceptive fiancée 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.[3] The stage play from which the film is derived was so named due to its events taking place entirely in a single room.[4]
A number of publications have labeled The Room as one of 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".[5] Originally shown only in a 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.[6]
The Disaster Artist, Sestero's memoir of the making of The Room, was co-written with Tom Bissell and published in 2013. A film of the same title based on the book, directed by and starring James Franco, was released on December 1, 2017; the book and film received widespread acclaim and numerous award nominations. A 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.[7]
