"The Room" has certainly earned its place in cinematic history, albeit as one of the most notoriously bad films ever made that managed to gain mainstream notoriety. Made by the elusive and strange Tommy Wiseau, the film celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. And it sounds like we will be getting a pretty bizarre treat to help commemorate that anniversary in the form of a remake starring none other than Bob Odenkirk of "Better Call Saul" and "Mr. Show" fame. Yes, you heard that right.
Buzz around this remake of "The Room" kicked up on social media, with podcaster Justin Decloux taking to Twitter to say, "I am very excited for the feature-length 'THE ROOM' remake (Shot mostly on greenscreen) in which the Tommy Wiseau role is taken over by Bob Odenkirk — and it's not played as a joke." We at /Film can confirm the legitimacy of this project, and here is what little we know about it at this point in time.
We know that the production is going to benefit a charity called amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. The organization Acting For a Cause is also involved, though it's unclear if they're also benefiting from donations, or if they're only backing the remake. Brando Crawford, the founder of Acting For a Cause, took credit for direction in a recent Instagram post. As for Odenkirk's participation, we can confirm that he did indeed participate in the film back in January. We've also collected several social media posts from people involved for you to check out below.
An Exceptionally Strange Idea (That Just Might Work)
Jarad Schwartz of Acting for a Cause took to Instagram to share a photo of himself with Odenkirk saying, "Something big coming this spring." While that doesn't offer much, it does seem to confirm a release window for the remake. Also of note, all of the social media posts include virtually nothing but green screen, indicating that they did utilize little by way of practical sets to accomplish this bizarre undertaking. When asked on Reddit whether the project "is select scenes or a movie," actor Cameron Kasky replied, "Oh, full f***ing movie." He also later confirmed on Twitter that director Crawford and Bella Heathcote ("Pieces of Her," "The Neon Demon") will appear in the film.
Wiseau's "The Room" has inspired much fanfare over the years, including sold-out midnight screenings across the country, a rabid cult following, and a much-acclaimed film all about how the infamous cinematic trainwreck came together in the form of A24's "The Disaster Artist." The idea of remaking it in its entirety with a guy like Odenkirk at the center is exceptionally bizarre. Though, if anyone can pull this off, he may well be the man for the job.
Odenkirk made himself known to the world through comedy through his work on stuff like "Mr. Show." Yet, in recent years, he's also become a truly compelling and wonderful actor, showcasing his chops in both "Better Call Saul" and "Breaking Bad," as well as his action flick "Nobody." If nothing else, this is one heck of an experiment from an actor who tends to deliver the goods.
"The Room" remake does not yet have a release date, but stay tuned as we'll be sure to bring you further information as it's made available.
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The post Bob Odenkirk Is Playing Tommy Wiseau's Role in A Greenscreen Remake Of The Room (For Charity) appeared first on /Film.