The Room, the worst movie in history: a laugh-out-loud drama that became a cult hit

In 2003, the film was released RoomWriting, producing, directing and acting was unknown then Tommy WiseauWho and what to become after this project One of the most controversial figures in Hollywood history.

The film tells the story of an ideal couple, Johnny and Linda, who are about to get married. Everything changes when Linda decides to cheat on Johnny with her best friend, and from here, things get complicated for everyone involved. Room It was panned by critics and some who saw it in theaters, but Its impact on popular culture is very different from that of other bad movies. It is till date, Considered the worst movie in historyFull of plot holes, terrible editing and acting, even as a play, it produces nothing but laughs.

What’s so special about it? Room? What was it like? Tommy Wiseau Did you decide to create this work that will still be talked about 20 years later? Under what conditions did the crew have to work on the film and what is the legacy of this film?

To talk about how the idea for the film was developed, it’s important to start from the mind behind it: Tommy Wiseau, a character as controversial and mysterious as his creation. His age is unknown to date, although it is speculated that he may have been in his 50s. His origin is also a mystery, with some media outlets speculating that he was French, others Polish, and others American, but nothing has been clarified. What is known, is only from the statements of his co-star Room, Greg SesteroHe took film classes Los Angeles Community College By actor Vincent ChaseWiseau had a very bad relationship with him.

For this class, Tommy made a short film Loot doesn’t pay Not better than RoomAnd indeed, it gave indications of the peculiar way in which the self-proclaimed filmmaker saw cinema.

Shortly thereafter, Wiseau would write a genre novel that he was interested in adapting to an audiovisual medium. At first he tried drama, but due to the genre’s low popularity and constant rejections for publishing his novel, he opted for cinema.

Even independent and low-budget films require a million dollars, a good sum.. Tommy spent $6 million to make this filmAnd to this day, The origin of this budget is the source of all kinds of theories. According to Sestero, Tommy had told him that he made his fortune by buying and selling commercial properties in San Francisco and Los Angeles, which The Room co-star didn’t quite understand.

Another theory is that the movie was just an excuse to launder money for some criminal organization, but that was far from the way it came out of Wiseau’s mouth.

The mystery of Tommy’s fortune was only the tip of the iceberg, and the films were critically acclaimed Lost in Tokyo, The Blair Witch Project And Mad MaxThey had an equal or smaller budget Room Does it cost (relatively) that much money? The secret lies in disaster filming.

The shoot of the film turned out to be a disaster, thanks to Wiseau making countless decisions that created headaches for all concerned, It increased the cost of production drastically. used in these results Green screen in outdoor recordable scenes, firing the entire crew and hiring a new one during filming, and constantly changing the cast. In fact, Sestero entered the project as a production assistant, but was fired on the first day of recording by the original actor, Tommy, citing one of the cases where the director, producer, protagonist and screenwriter abused his power.

However, it was probably Tommy’s fault for spending too much money Buy two cameras for recording, a 35mm and another high definition, so expensive that even large production companies choose to rent them. Worst of all, Wiseau didn’t know how to make them work together because the two cameras gave completely different images, so he chose to record both at the same time, a complete waste of money.

If everything was a disaster behind the scenes, things weren’t much better in front of them.

Script all around 500 pages Practically unclear by Wiseau, actors with phrases “They Couldn’t Say It Out”, except for being unbearably long and repetitive with subplots that go nowhere. Added to this was Tommy’s stubbornness, refusing to change even one point of the project he had given so much “love and commitment”. Interestingly, Wiseau agreed to remove a scene from the film His character flies into his car, indicating that he is indeed a vampire.

There were plenty of reasons to ditch the idea, but the production team chose one of the least outrageous: No budget to record like that.

With all these circumstances concluded, the cast began to work, although for many it was their first experience in front of the cameras, just like Sestero. Wiseau was far from the best actor in the room, as even the script he wrote, He kept forgetting his character’s lines, prolonging the shoot unnecessarily.

The acting and screenplay were such a poor combination that the cameramen did nothing but die laughing, causing the camera to shake constantly, and the anger of Wiseau, who found nothing funny in his dramatic story.

After six months of sluggish shooting, the film hit the theaters with a result that no one expected.

After completing the shoot, Wiseau sent the film to Paramount for distribution. Usually, the response takes two weeks to a month, but because of the specific program Tommy provided, it didn’t even take 24 hours for the production company to return the tape to the responsible person with a sound “No.”

Against all odds, the film opened in major theaters in Los Angeles and was destroyed by critics and the public, in many cases asking for refunds at the box office within minutes of the film’s opening.

After two weeks on the billboard, a miracle of miracles Michael Rouslett appeared on the scene. Michael was intrigued by the film’s poster, and Wiseau looked directly into the camera with a confused gesture. He asked the man at the box office for a ticket, warning him that the film was practically a crime against humanity. This piqued Michael’s interest, and when he walked into the room and watched Tommy Wiseau perform, he realized that the man wasn’t so wrong at the box office. Disasters that can’t stop watching.

Rousselet enjoyed this 100-minute spontaneous comedy so much that he invited all his friends to experience it before it was removed from the billboards. Suddenly, theaters opened Room Many days were packed, barely enough time to recoup the investment USD 4.9 million dollars.

The money was enough to release Wiseau on DVD and rent a theater to show it, filling it for months. Room It has become a cultural phenomenon far from what the creator dreamed of.

Room It became part of popular culture not because it was simply bad, but because all the elements combined to create a masterpiece of absurdity and bad taste. That’s how the tape came in 2017 Disaster ArtistWhere is the actor? James Franco He tried to recreate Wiseau’s formula and played a “disaster artist” in an attempt to bring life. Room In addition to running the project.

Regarding the reason for bringing this story back to the big screen, Franco shared the following in an interview:

I have to thank Tommy because his strange story, his demeanor and his individuality drove it all. But we must also recognize the merits of Tom Bissell (a journalist who wrote a book about the case). room) And Greg Sestero captures this title in a way that shows the universality of Tommy and Greg’s story, about trying to follow your dreams in the face of rejection without any support from the outside world and having to depend on each other for something true.One. Beneath the completely weird, crazy and ridiculous story that makes up this movie, there was something very moving, because of that friendship.”.