The Room (2003 Film) Tommy Wiseau

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, located on 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.[14][9] 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.[14] Wiseau also paid for a small television and print campaign in and around Los Angeles,[6] and hired publicist Edward Lozzi in his efforts to promote and self-distribute the film after it was turned down by Paramount.[41]

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$5,000 a month.[54][55] Its bizarre imagery and longevity led to it becoming a minor tourist attraction.[6][56] 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."[9]

Critical reception

The Room premiered on June 27, 2003, at the Laemmle Fairfax and 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.[6] 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 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."[6] IFC.com described Wiseau's speaking voice in the film as "Borat trying to do an impression of Christopher Walken playing a mental patient."[57] The Guardian described the film as a mix of "Tennessee Williams, Ed Wood, and R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet."[58]

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.[59][60] 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."[61] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 9 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike."[62] Despite disdain from critics, the film has retrospectively received ironic acclaim from audiences for its perceived shortcomings, with some viewers calling it the "best worst movie ever."[63]

In 2013, The Atlantic's Adam Rosen wrote an article titled "Should Gloriously Terrible Movies Like The Room Be Considered '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."[64]

In a 2017 interview for a 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:[65]

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

The Room played in the Laemmle Fairfax and Fallbrook for the next two weeks, grossing a total of US$1,900 (equivalent to $3,147 in 2023) before it was pulled from circulation.[6][66] 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."[67] 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", 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.[6]

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 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.[68] 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.[69] The film was featured on the 2008 Range Life tour, and expanded to midnight screenings in several other cities soon after.[70] Celebrity fans of the film included Paul Rudd, David Cross, Will Arnett, Patton Oswalt, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Seth Rogen, and James and Dave Franco. Kristen Bell acquired a film reel and hosted private viewing parties;[71] Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas would also slip references into episodes "as much as possible."[6] 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.[2]

By April 2016, the film had been playing at the Mayfair Theatre in Ottawa, Canada for 80 consecutive months.[72][73] The film had regular showings in many theaters worldwide, with many as a monthly event.[74] 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.[59][6][75][76] 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.[77][78]

Home media

The Room was released on DVD on November 4, 2003, and Blu-ray in December 2012.[2][79] 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;[57] next to him sits a large framed 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 sequiturs.[80]

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 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.[80]

Wiseau first announced plans in April 2011 for a 3D version of The Room, scanned from the 35mm negative.[11] Later, in 2018, he revealed his intentions to reshoot the film in 3D, citing cost-effectiveness reasons.[81] The Room was uploaded to YouTube by Wiseau on September 21, 2018,[82] but was removed the day afterwards.[83]

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.[84]