You might be asking yourself, how much of a backstory does The Room actually have? Tommy Wiseau's cult classic is a terrible movie by all metrics, though its hold on the imagination of bad movie aficionados is considerable and profound. As co-star Greg Sestero proved however, in his recent book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the production was fraught with the madness of a first-timer and his Vertigo-like obsessions. This sounds like a job for James Franco! And his brother, Dave!
Variety reports that during a screening of The Room, Dave Franco confirmed that he would be joining the film version of The Disaster Artist for his brother, director James Franco. And while James will attempt to recreate the manic insanity of Mr. Wiseau, Dave (last seen in Neighbors) will be stepping into the unwitting shoes of Mr. Sestero, the man who Wiseau considered a friend, but who should have probably kept his stupid comments in his pocket instead of writing a tell-all book.
Because James Franco loves layers upon layers of meta, the implications here are staggering. First of all, he has not only The Room, where Sestero plays a man who cons best friend Wiseau by sleeping with his girlfriend. But he also has the relationship depicted in the book, one loaded with psychosexual The Talented Mr. Ripley-type vibes, with the artist recruiting a capable younger actor, only to attempt to completely dominate his personality in a search for friendship, companionship and understanding. And with the existence of the book itself, ultimately betrayal.
You throw into this mix the obvious resemblance between the Franco brothers, and suddenly this is DePalma-levels of creepy. The very making of The Room, a film that feels like a cry for help from a crazy person, is a Heart Of Darkness-type story of absolute power corrupting absolutely. To know that the man in charge was trying to emulate his handsome co-star, trying to control him, trying to befriend him at every turn, stinking of desperation – well, geez, this is going to be a fun movie to unpack. You sort of feel bad for the girl who ends up being cast as in this Freudian nightmare as Juliette Danielle (Ghost Shark 2), who played Lisa in The Room, the object of the lead character's lust. Ladies, raise your hand if you want to be the meat in a Franco sandwich!
Shooting is expected to start later this year or early next, which means we could be seeing The Disaster Artist in 2015. But will this be a bigger movie, banking on the appeal of the Francos and hoping most of the general public is aware of this little curiosity? Or will it be a smaller, more insular picture, a "one for me" effort for James Franco that has no pressure from studio notes to "be less weird"? Franco's The Interview buddies Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are producers, with Ryan Moody penning the script, so we'll see how strange it gets.
