In San Francisco in 1998, 19-year-old Greg Sestero befriends Tommy Wiseau in Jean Shelton's acting class after Tommy gives a bizarre interpretation of a scene from A Streetcar Named Desire. Greg is impressed by Tommy's fearlessness, though Tommy also exhibits unusual habits and mannerisms; for instance, he can afford apartments in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, but he will not discuss his personal life or the source of his wealth. Despite his pronounced European accent, Tommy insists to Greg that he is from New Orleans. The two move to Los Angeles to pursue acting careers at Tommy's suggestion.
Greg signs with talent agent Iris Burton and regularly attends auditions. Meanwhile, Tommy is constantly rejected by agencies, acting teachers, casting directors, and producers. He also thinks that Amber, Greg's new girlfriend, is sabotaging his friendship with Greg. As Greg's auditions begin to dry up, Tommy decides to make a film for them to star in. Tommy writes the screenplay for The Room, a melodrama about a love triangle between banker Johnny (played by Tommy), his fiancée Lisa, and his best friend Mark (played by Greg, who is also given a line producer credit). They rent production space from Birns & Sawyer, from whom Tommy insists on buying, rather than renting, all of the production equipment he will need. He also decides to shoot the film on 35 mm film and HD Digital simultaneously, which is another costly and unnecessary measure. Raphael Smadja and Sandy Schklair are hired as the cinematographer and script supervisor, respectively, and actress Juliette Danielle is cast as Lisa.
Tommy's controlling behavior and inexperience soon begin to affect the production. He forgets his lines, arrives late, and refuses to supply his crew with basic needs like drinking water and air conditioning. The cast and crew are baffled by the film's nonsensical plot and Tommy's inexplicable directorial and acting choices. Tensions between the crew and Tommy reach a boiling point when Tommy refuses to film on a closed set and humiliates Juliette in front of the entire crew. When confronted about this, Tommy reveals that he knows what the cast and crew members have been saying about him behind his back, as he watches the behind-the-scenes footage of the production. Tommy also reveals that he has spent $5 million on the production but does not disclose where these funds came from.
While The Room is still filming, Greg and Amber run into Bryan Cranston at a cafe. He says he is directing an upcoming episode of the TV show he is on, Malcolm in the Middle, and invites Greg to play a lumberjack, mainly because Greg has a beard. Greg is scheduled to shave his beard soon for The Room (for no apparent purpose), so he begs Tommy to delay shooting those scenes, but Tommy refuses. Greg reluctantly decides to finish the film and give up the opportunity to be on Malcolm. On the last day of shooting, which is on location back in San Francisco, Greg admonishes Tommy for being selfish throughout their friendship and demands that Tommy reveal his age, origin, and source of income. Tommy refuses to do so and Greg storms off.
By June 2003, Greg has broken up with Amber and has started working in theater. Tommy has finished work on The Room in the eight months since their falling-out. He invites Greg to the premiere, and Greg reluctantly agrees; the entire cast and crew also attend. As the film plays on the screen, the capacity audience reacts with bemused silence and then, increasingly, with laughter at Tommy's poor performance, script, and filmmaking techniques. A devastated Tommy storms out of the theater, but Greg brings him back and points out that the audience's enthusiastic response is something to be proud of while reconciling their friendship. With renewed optimism, Tommy takes the stage as The Room ends and expresses his appreciation of the warm reception for his "comedic" film. He invites Greg to join him, and the pair receive a standing ovation.
In a post-credits scene, Tommy meets Henry, a partygoer who asks Tommy if he wants to hang out. He refuses, though he does recognize Henry's familiar "New Orleans" accent.
In February 2014, Seth Rogen's production company Point Grey Pictures announced it had acquired the book and film rights to The Disaster Artist. James Franco was set to direct and play Wiseau, and his brother Dave Franco was cast as Sestero. James Franco stated The Disaster Artist was "a combination of Boogie Nights and The Master".[16] According to Franco, Wiseau initially had hoped Johnny Depp would play him.[17] In April 2016, the title was reported to have changed from The Disaster Artist to The Masterpiece,[18] though The Disaster Artist was confirmed as the official title when the film's SXSW premiere was announced.[19]
Casting
In June 2014, James Franco's younger brother, Dave Franco, informally announced at a midnight showing of The Room that he had been cast in the co-starring role of Greg Sestero. Wiseau praised the decision in a Q&A session.[20] The film is the first collaboration of James and brother Dave, as the younger Franco has said that he had sought different projects deliberately, specifying in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, "I didn't want people to think I was riding his coattails."[21] As New Line Cinema sought to acquire The Disaster Artist in October 2015, one of the film's producers, and frequent Franco collaborator, Seth Rogen, was in negotiations to play The Room's script supervisor, Sandy Schklair.[22] The remainder of the principal cast were revealed in the days prior to the beginning of filming, in early December 2015: Josh Hutcherson as Philip Haldiman, Ari Graynor as Juliette Danielle, Jacki Weaver as Carolyn Minnott, Hannibal Buress as Bill Meur, Andrew Santino as Scott Holmes, and Zac Efron as Dan Janjigian.[23][24][25][26] Dave Franco's wife, Alison Brie, joined the cast in the role of Sestero's then-girlfriend, Amber,[27] and Sharon Stone was later announced to have been cast as Hollywood talent agent Iris Burton.[28] Sestero stated in January 2016 that Bryan Cranston had been cast in the film in an undisclosed role. In November 2016, he was revealed to be playing himself during his time working on Malcolm in the Middle.[29]
Filming
Principal photography began on December 8, 2015, in Los Angeles,[30] and ended on January 28, 2016.[31] Among the locations used was The Ojai Apartments on Whitley Terrace in Hollywood.[32]Dave Porter composed the film's score.[33]
Release
The film had its premiere, in a work-in-progress form, at South by Southwest on March 12, 2017.[34][35][19] In May 2017, A24 acquired distribution rights to the film, and set the film for a limited release on December 1, 2017, before a wide release on December 8.[36]Warner Bros. Pictures distributes the film internationally,[37] and it received an IMAX release in selected areas as well.[38] On October 25, 2017, A24 mounted a billboard on Highland Avenue in Los Angeles that replicated the original The Room billboard that Wiseau kept up from 2003 to 2008.[39][40]
The film was released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on March 13, 2018.[41] As of February 20, 2019, its estimated US home media sales were $1,288,213.[42]
Reception
Box office
The Disaster Artist grossed $21.1 million in the United States and Canada and $8.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $29.8 million, against a production budget of $10 million.[4]
The film grossed $1.2 million from 19 theaters in its limited opening weekend, finishing 12th at the box office and averaging $64,254 per venue, one of the highest averages of 2017.[43] The film had its wide expansion the following week, alongside the opening of Just Getting Started and I, Tonya and was projected to gross around $5 million from 840 theaters over the weekend.[44] It ended up making $6.4 million, finishing 4th at the box office.[45] The following week, despite being added to 170 additional theaters, the film dropped a more-than-expected 57% to $2.7 million, finishing 8th.[46] In its third weekend of wide release it made $884,576 ($1.2 million over the four day Christmas frame), dropping to 17th.[47]
Critical response
The Disaster Artist received a standing ovation at its initial screening at South by Southwest.[48][49] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Disaster Artist holds an approval rating of 91% based on 350 professional reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Oh, hai Mark. The Disaster Artist is a surprisingly poignant and charming movie-about-a-movie that explores the creative process with unexpected delicacy."[50]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned The Disaster Artist a score of 76 out of 100 based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[51] Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an 81% overall positive score and a 66% "definite recommend".[45]
Erik Childress of The Playlist dubbed James Franco's performance his "best... since his Oscar-nominated turn in 127 Hours." Further, he wrote that "as a director it is nice to finally see him embrace the comfort zone of comedy with enough cameos to rival Robert Altman's The Player."[52] Peter Debruge of Variety said it had a "genuine capacity to delight, whether or not the audiences in question have seen The Room."[53]
Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, saying: "As a director, Franco succeeds beautifully at bringing coherence to chaos, a word that accurately describes the making of this modern midnight-movie phenomenon. Do you need to see The Room to appreciate The Disaster Artist? Not really."[54]Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a hilarious, heartening celebration of failure".[55]
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote that it is "a divertingly funny movie, but its breeziness can also feel overstated, at times glib and a bit of a dodge".[56]Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, writing that it brings up unanswered questions, and "has room for improvement".[57]Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a rating of "C", calling it a "lousy tribute" and asking, "will anyone who hasn't seen The Room actually be able to piece together a sense of this Z-grade sensation from watching The Disaster Artist?"[58]
Although based on a true story, the film dramatizes and omits several events:[98]
In the film Tommy gets the inspiration to write The Room simply as a feature film vehicle for him and Greg; in real life it started out as a play and Tommy was inspired after seeing The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Greg's mother is a native French speaker and thus has a corresponding accent, which Greg used for his role in the horror movie Retro Puppet Master. Megan Mullally's portrayal of his mother does not have a distinct accent.
Although the film depicts Sestero eagerly accepting the role of Mark, it is detailed in the memoir that Sestero only reluctantly accepted the role after Wiseau offered to buy him a car and pay him a significant salary for his role. Wiseau had already cast a separate actor in the role, and claimed the film's producers had asked him to use Sestero for the role instead during the first day of shooting.
The restaurant scene where Tommy accosts a rude film producer, played by Judd Apatow, is entirely fictional. The producer himself is fictional and meant to be an amalgam of other producers. Apatow says that James Franco tricked him into playing a version of himself as a "generic asshole producer", though he didn't initially realize that when being cast. Franco and Apatow claim that the latter is not that bad in real life.[99][100]
While the turmoil on set is depicted in the film, the real-life production had a much higher turnover rate, going through three different sets of crew (opposed to just the two members fired in the film).
Though film depicts the line “beat her up so bad she ended up in a hospital on Guerrero Street” as scripted, it is revealed in the memoir that the “Guerrero Street” portion of the line was improvised by Sestero in attempts to elicit emotion from Wiseau (who owned an apartment located on Guerrero Street in San Francisco), due to the crew’s frustration over his jovial reaction to a story of domestic abuse. In the memoir, it is claimed that Wiseau was infuriated by the line, and confronted Sestero about it after shooting had concluded: an event which does not occur in the film.
At the time The Disaster Artist is set, Greg had never met Bryan Cranston in real life, and was not forced to choose between The Room and shooting an episode of Malcolm in the Middle. He was reluctant to shave his beard due to wanting to dissociate himself from The Room.
The film depicts Greg Sestero confronting Tommy Wiseau during filming in San Francisco: questioning his mysterious source of wealth, dubious “Louisiana” background, and his undisclosed age, leading Wiseau to tackle Sestero out of frustration. In the memoir, a similar event occurs, though this is a result of Sestero speaking to Wiseau in French.
While the film depicts the premiere of The Room being met with laughter and applause, the real initial screening was received poorly and many audience members walked out in the first five minutes; it took time for its cult status to develop. Despite this, the novel details a similar reaction from Sestero's family upon viewing a rough cut of The Room.
Notes
^Apatow's name appears in the title credits, but not in the ending credits.
^"The Disaster Artist (2017)". The Numbers. March 18, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018. Domestic Box Office $21,120,616 International Box Office $4,941,110 Worldwide Box Office $26,061,726 Est. Domestic DVD Sales $190,663 Est. Domestic Blu-ray Sales $561,703 Total Est. Domestic Video Sales $752,366 Weekly US Blu-ray Sales...Date 3/18/2018...Our DVD and Blu-ray sales estimates are based on weekly retail surveys, which we use to build a weekly market share estimate for each title we are tracking. ...
