First released in 2003, “The Room” has grown over 20 years into one of the definitive so bad its good cult classics of the 21st-century, inspiring midnight movie screenings across the country, some of the internet’s most long-enduring memes, and an entire film about its creation. Now, it’s getting the remake treatment — sort of — in a new tribute film that sees Bob Odenkirk take the lead role of Johnny.
“The Room Returns” comes from Acting For a Cause, an all-volunteer organization that produces special events for charity. The group’s first feature film, it will see its cast perform the original script of “The Room” against a green screen displaying locations from the 2003 movie. Alongside Odenkirk, the cast includes original “The Room” star Greg Sestero, Bella Heathcote, Mike Flanagan, Kate Siegel, Cameron Kasky, and Brando Crawford, who also stars and produces in the film.
The film will premiere on June 26 at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. All proceeds of the event will benefit three charitable organizations — cancer research organization amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, and Blue Collaborative, a non-profit production company that supports independent artists.
“’The Room’ has spent twenty years proving that audiences don’t fall in love with perfection… authenticity is what brings them back time and time again (and most often at midnight screenings). ‘The Room Returns’ is our attempt to honor that legacy while raising money for causes we care deeply about,” Crawford said in a statement. “‘The Room’ was famously shot across a year with a 6 million budget, and a mostly unknown cast. With ‘The Room Returns,’ we are flipping the myth on its head: shot in a day, with no budget, and a cast and crew that puts butts in seats like Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk and Mike Flanagan. It’s an experiment that we made for art and impact.”
“The Room” first premiered in 2003 in a limited Los Angeles release, before spreading further via the midnight movie circuit. Written and directed by and starring Tommy Wiseau, the melodrama tells the story of a love triangle between a banker, his fiancée, and his best friend. Often considered one of the worst films of all time, the movie has become a cult favorite thanks to its bizarre storytelling and unconventional filmmaking style. In 2017, “The Disaster Artist” a film about the movie’s production starring brother James and Dave Franco as Sestero and Wiseau, was released, earning a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the Oscars.
Watch the trailer for the film, an IndieWire exclusive, below.
