My love of bad movies has been well documented. And one of the all-time greats is Tommy Wiseau's bizarre masterpiece THE ROOM. Its misplaced passion and lack of coherent scripting makes it both fascinating and fun to watch. It is certainly a sight to behold, and has almost become the new ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, especially if you see it with an audience (just watch out for flying spoons!).
As such a big cult favorite, it's no surprise that there's going to be a film about the making of it (hell, people have been saying Wiseau is the new Ed Wood. I'm not sure I agree, but I can see where they're coming from). Titled THE MASTERPIECE (based on the book THE DISASTER ARTIST, written by co-star and producer of THE ROOM Greg Sestero), the film will be directed by James Franco, who will also be starring as the elusive and enigmatic Wiseau. The rest of the cast includes brother Dave Franco (as the aforementioned Greg Sestero), Seth Rogen, Sharon Stone, Zac Efron, and Bryan Cranston.
Unlike everyone else in the cast, Bryan Cranston's role up until now has been a secret. However, it has recently been revealed to be none other than…Bryan Cranston.
That's right, BryCran (my new nickname for him) will be playing himself, circa MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE (since THE ROOM was being filmed in the early 2000's). When asked why BryCran will be playing himself, Franco said:
I was going to do WHY HIM? with Bryan so I guess maybe he was on my mind…I just really love that and I already know what a great guy Bryan was and I really would work with him on anything so I just asked him.
Um, okay. I mean, having BryCran in your movie is always a good thing, no matter what the excuse is. Either way, I'm still pumped for the film and can't wait for it. While I've been lukewarm to Franco's past films, it can't be denied that they weren't ambitious or ballsy. Let's just hope that he can finally put all that passion and ambition into something worth watching.
THE MASTERPIECE will tear itself apart sometime in 2017.
