Trama

When aspiring actor Greg Sestero meets the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class, they form a unique friendship and travel to Hollywood to make their dreams come true.

With The Disaster Artist, James Franco transforms the tragicomic true-story of aspiring filmmaker and infamous Hollywood outsider Tommy Wiseau--an artist whose passion was as sincere as his methods were questionable--into a celebration of friendship, artistic expression, and dreams pursued against insurmountable odds. Based on Greg Sestero's best-selling tell-all about the making of Tommy's cult-classic disasterpiece The Room ("The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made"), The Disaster Artist is a hilarious and welcome reminder that there is more than one way to become a legend--and no limit to what you can achieve when you have absolutely no idea what you're doing.—A24 Films

In the 1990s, Greg Sestero is an aspiring actor, who meets the strange Tommy Wiseau in an acting class. Together, Tommy inspires Greg to overcome his nervousness in acting so well that Greg agrees to come to Los Angeles with his odd new friend to pursue their dreams. However, their dreams seem to prove hopeless, especially for Tommy whose mysteriously strange accent and personality repels nearly all around him. Out of an inadvertent suggestion from Greg, Tommy is inspired to instead create his own movie, The Room (2003). What follows is a bizarre struggle to create that film, guided by Tommy, a man who has plenty of money, but not a trace of filmmaking education, experience, talent or even common sense. Along the way, Greg's friendship with Tommy is put to the test as this project takes shape that would produce a film that ultimately becomes a bizarre accomplishment of a cult classic nature that no one, including Tommy, can see coming.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

San Francisco, 1998. Greg Sestero, a young actor waiting for his big break, meets his soulmate, the eccentric amateur performer Tommy Wiseau, in an acting class. With dreams of making it big in Hollywood, the aspiring movie stars move to sunny Los Angeles, only to face one disastrous audition after another. Perhaps the entertainment scene wasn't ready for their talents. And then, in one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions, Tommy and Greg dive into filmmaking to create their first movie. However, despite their burning desire to prove everyone wrong, they quickly understand that they are out of their depth. As they put their hearts into making a mark in the film industry, their combined efforts culminate in The Room (2003)--a monument to courage, perseverance, and passion.—Nick Riganas

San Francisco, 1998. Aspiring actor Greg Sestero meets Tommy Wiseau in an acting class. Wiseau is off-the-scale weird and hopelessly untalented as an actor but has a stupendous amount of self-confidence. Sestero and Wiseau form a friendship and move to Los Angeles to pursue their dream of making it big in Hollywood. After landing no roles, they decide to make their own movie. Produced, directed and written by Wiseau and with him in the lead role, the resulting movie is regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, if not THE worst - The Room.—grantss

In San Francisco, 1998, 19-year-old Greg Sestero (Dave Franco), meets a mysterious man, Tommy Wiseau (James Franco), in acting classes with Jean Shelton (Melanie Griffith). Greg is doing a scene from "Waiting For Godot", but he's very shy and cannot express his acting talent the way he wants. Jean criticizes Greg and his partner for not being fearless enough to show the class who they really are. When Jean asks for someone to be fearless, one man in the class responds, Tommy.

Tommy gives a bizarre interpretation of a scene from A Streetcar Named Desire. Tommy just does weird stuff like climbing the wall and yelling incoherently. Nobody is impressed, except for Greg. Shelton rips apart Tommy's performance, but Greg is impressed by Tommy's fearlessness and the two become friends. On Tommy's suggestion, they move to Los Angeles to pursue acting careers. Tommy also exhibits unusual habits and mannerisms. Tommy decides that they should waste no time in making their dreams come true, so they decide to move to Los Angeles and stay in an apartment that Tommy owns. 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. Greg packs up his bags to move out. His mother (Megan Mullally) is concerned for Greg going off with a man he barely knows. Tommy picks Greg up and they head off.

In November 1988, Greg signs with Iris Burton (Sharon Stone), a talent agent, while Tommy faces rejection from agencies, casting directors, and Hollywood insiders. One night, he is at a restaurant where he spots a well-known producer (Judd Apatow). Tommy approaches him in the middle of his dinner and tries to do a very loud and over-the-top "Hamlet" monologue before security comes to get him. The producer flat-out tells Tommy that he will never make it. When given advice to portray a villain, Tommy rejected the idea, proclaiming himself a hero.

Greg develops a relationship with Amber (Alison Brie), whom he meets at a nightclub, and Tommy grows jealous. He thinks that Amber is sabotaging their friendship. As he fails to find work, he becomes disheartened. As Greg's auditions also dry up, he shares his frustrations with Tommy. Tommy and Greg stand on the rooftop of their place, both feeling dejected with their lack of work. Greg says that Iris hasn't been returning his calls, and he hasn't been nabbing many auditions. Tommy feels as though Hollywood has straight-up rejected him. Greg says he wishes they could make their own movie so they can have their own roles. Tommy thinks it's a great idea.

Tommy writes the screenplay for The Room, a melodrama about a love triangle between banker and the movie's protagonist Johnny, his fiance Lisa, and his best friend Mark.

It takes 3 years for Tommy to write a screenplay, which is ready by 2001. The dialogue is ridiculous, but Greg tells Tommy he thinks it's good. Tommy tells him he will play the main role of Johnny, and Greg will play his best friend Mark. Greg will also get the associate producer credit. They rent production space from Birns & Sawyer.

Tommy insists on buying all the production equipment which they buy from Bill Meurer (Hannibal Buress) owner of Birns & Sawyer and Peter Anway (Jason Mantzoukas), sales representative and shooting the film on 35 MM film and HD Digital simultaneously, which is another costly and unnecessary measure. The employees introduce Tommy to Raphael Smadja (Paul Scheer) and Sandy Schklair (Seth Rogen), who work as his cinematographer and script supervisor respectively and actress Juliette Danielle is cast as Lisa.

Tommy and Greg audition a bunch of actresses for the part of Lisa, Johnny's girlfriend. The auditions are ridiculous, and at least one woman is horrified to think she would have to play Tommy's girlfriend. They eventually land on an actress named Juliette Danielle (Ari Graynor). Peter and Bill introduce Tommy to Rafael Smadja (Paul Scheer), the director of photography, and Sandy Schklair (Seth Rogen), the script supervisor, as well as Amy (Kelly Oxford) for makeup and Safoya (Charlyne Yi) for wardrobe.

Other actors include Philip Haldiman (Josh Hutcherson), Carolyn Minnott (Jacki Weaver), Dan Janjigian (Zac Efron), Robyn Paris (June Diane Raphael), Scott Holmes (Andrew Santino), Kyle Vogt (Nathan Fielder). While out at dinner, Greg and Amber tell Tommy that they plan on having him move into her apartment. Tommy goes outside and angrily thrashes newspapers around.

While production starts smoothly, Tommy's controlling behavior and inexperience soon begin to affect it. He forgets his lines and forces them to go through over 60 takes, arrives late, and refuses to supply his crew with basic needs such as drinking water, during which Carolyn Minnett, who portrays Claudette, fainted from heat stroke. The others try to wake her up, but Tommy coldly accuses her of napping on the job. The cast and crew are baffled by the film's nonsensical plot and Tommy's inexplicable directorial and acting choices. During lunch, Greg sits with the rest of the cast. Philip asks Greg just what the hell the movie is about. Robyn Paris (June Diane Raphael), who plays Michelle, muses that the characters are inspired by people Tommy knew, and that Lisa, who betrays Johnny, is the universe as a whole. Greg then asks Carolyn why she continues to do the job even after all she's been put through. She responds that it's because they're actors, and even for them, the worst day on a set is better than most days anywhere else.

Tensions between the crew and Tommy reach a boiling point when he refuses to film on a closed set and humiliates Juliette in front of the entire crew. During preparation for a sex scene, Tommy humiliates actor Juliette Danielle (Ari Graynor) by pointing out her acne to the crew. Smadja lashes out at Tommy for insulting her, during which he is fired only to be rehired. The scene itself is just awkward from Tommy's positioning, as Sandy notes it looks like Tommy is penetrating Juliette's belly button.

Having filmed extensive behind-the-scenes footage, Tommy reveals that he knows everybody hates him, and believes that nobody, including Greg, supports his vision despite him having spent over $5 MM on the movie, 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 an upcoming scene in 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.

The crew is now more than 12 days over filming. They shoot a scene where Johnny commits suicide after discovering Lisa's betrayal. Tommy puts the gun in his mouth and then starts writhing around and humping Lisa's dress (which Juliette wanted to keep).

On the last day of shooting, which is on location back in San Francisco, Greg takes out his frustration on Tommy, accusing him of being selfish throughout their friendship and questioning his age, origin, and source of income; the two briefly fight before Greg storms off, as a disheartened Tommy declares filming has been wrapped.

By June 2003(8 months later), Greg broke up with Amber and started working in the theater. Tommy has finished work on The Room eight months since their falling-out. He invites Greg to the premiere, who reluctantly agrees; the entire cast and crew also attend.

As the film plays on the screen, the capacity audience reacts with bemused silence with some disgust and then, increasingly, with laughter at Tommy's poor performance, script, and filmmaking techniques. The audience reacts with laughter at the ridiculousness of the film, as well as loud disgust at the sex scene with Tommy's ass in full view. Even Juliette is horrified that the scene is so long. The rest of the film is met with uproarious laughter, and the cast stating how bad most of it is. Tommy becomes visibly upset at the audience's reaction, and Greg notices.

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. The audience chant "Do it! Do it! Do it!" when Johnny commits suicide, and once the film ends, everyone gives Tommy a standing ovation.

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.

The movie was released in 1 theatre in 2003, and Tommy paid to keep it there for 2 weeks to qualify for the Oscars. He spent $ 6 MM on the movie. It grossed $1800 on its opening weekend. Since then, it acquired cult status, and eventually turned a profit.