# The Disaster Artist
**The Disaster Artist** is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed by and starring [James Franco](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-franco) as [Tommy Wiseau](https://www.edgepedia.org/tommy-wiseau), the writer, director, producer, and star of the 2003 independent film *The Room*, one of the most notorious bad films ever made. It adapts the 2013 nonfiction book *The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made* by [Greg Sestero](https://www.edgepedia.org/greg-sestero), who appeared in *The Room*, written with Tom Bissell[1](https://time.com/4093384/james-franco-seth-rogen-the-room/). Dave Franco co-stars as Greg Sestero, and the film dramatizes the chaotic production of *The Room* and the friendship between Wiseau and Sestero[2](https://time.com/5027054/james-and-dave-franco-the-disaster-artist/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / star | James Franco, playing Tommy Wiseau[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist) |
| Source book | 2013 nonfiction book by Greg Sestero with Tom Bissell[1](https://time.com/4093384/james-franco-seth-rogen-the-room/) |
| Subject film | *The Room* (2003), made by Wiseau on a reported $6 million budget he financed himself[2](https://time.com/5027054/james-and-dave-franco-the-disaster-artist/) |
| Screenwriters | Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist) |
| Distributor / release | A24; wide theatrical release December 8, 2017; streaming February 17, 2018[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist) |
| Box office | $21.1 million gross in the United States; runtime 1 hour 43 minutes; rated R[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist) |
| Reception | 90% Tomatometer (346 reviews); 85% audience score; Metascore 76 from 44 critic reviews[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-disaster-artist/) |
| Awards | Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy (James Franco)[5](https://time.com/5092558/james-franco-blocks-tommy-wiseau/) |
## The subject: The Room
*The Room* was written, directed, produced by, and stars the eccentric Wiseau, who had no filmmaking experience when he made it[1](https://time.com/4093384/james-franco-seth-rogen-the-room/). It was made on a reported $6 million budget that Wiseau financed himself[2](https://time.com/5027054/james-and-dave-franco-the-disaster-artist/). On its 2003 release it played for two weeks in Los Angeles to qualify for the Oscars, and was pulled from theaters after low ticket sales[6](https://www.thewrap.com/the-disaster-artist-review-james-franco-tommy-wiseau-the-room/). It later became a midnight-movie cult favorite[1](https://time.com/4093384/james-franco-seth-rogen-the-room/), and Wiseau even made back his personal investment[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tommy-wiseau-in-the-disaster-artist-wants-to-be-taken-seriously-james-franco-can-relate/2017/11/29/09652e5a-cfd2-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html).
Part of what distinguishes the film is that its badness is unintentional. As [Dave Franco](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-franco) explained, unlike knowingly silly productions such as *Sharknado*, "with *The Room*, Tommy was trying to make an earnest drama that would win awards"[2](https://time.com/5027054/james-and-dave-franco-the-disaster-artist/). Wiseau marketed it as "a Tennessee Williams-level drama," while critics and fans call it the worst movie ever made[2](https://time.com/5027054/james-and-dave-franco-the-disaster-artist/). His origin story remains a mystery, including his age, his birthplace, and the source of the money[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tommy-wiseau-in-the-disaster-artist-wants-to-be-taken-seriously-james-franco-can-relate/2017/11/29/09652e5a-cfd2-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html).
## The source book
The film adapts a memoir by Sestero, Wiseau's confidante and co-star in *The Room*, written with Tom Bissell. The book alternates between two strands: one chronicling the chaotic 2002 to 2003 production of *The Room*, and the other tracing the friendship between Sestero and the enigmatic Wiseau from their 1998 meeting through the film's 2003 premiere and its improbable afterlife as a cult phenomenon[8](https://www.supersummary.com/the-disaster-artist/summary/). Sestero said he co-wrote the book to make sense of how a terrible film became a phenomenon, describing it as a study of friendship, ambition, and hubris, and he stressed that Franco's version had to be "heartfelt, not mocking"[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tommy-wiseau-in-the-disaster-artist-wants-to-be-taken-seriously-james-franco-can-relate/2017/11/29/09652e5a-cfd2-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html).
## Production and performances
[Seth Rogen](https://www.edgepedia.org/seth-rogen) and James Franco were first reported in negotiations for the project in 2015, with Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the writers of *(500) Days of Summer* and adapters of *The Fault in Our Stars*, writing the script[1](https://time.com/4093384/james-franco-seth-rogen-the-room/). Rogen plays script supervisor Sandy Schklair, and the supporting cast includes [Zac Efron](https://www.edgepedia.org/zac-efron), Alison Brie, Ari Graynor, Josh Hutcherson, and [Jacki Weaver](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacki-weaver)[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-disaster-artist/). The Franco brothers worked together professionally for the first time on the film, with James directing and playing Wiseau and Dave playing Sestero[2](https://time.com/5027054/james-and-dave-franco-the-disaster-artist/).
**Preparing for the role.** James Franco studied Wiseau's speech extensively, including hours of Wiseau's audio diaries, to reproduce his distinctive, unplaceable accent[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tommy-wiseau-in-the-disaster-artist-wants-to-be-taken-seriously-james-franco-can-relate/2017/11/29/09652e5a-cfd2-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html). He directed on set while in character as Wiseau, and told the Washington Post it was likely the first time "a director was directing himself in a movie, playing a character that was a director directing himself in a movie"[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tommy-wiseau-in-the-disaster-artist-wants-to-be-taken-seriously-james-franco-can-relate/2017/11/29/09652e5a-cfd2-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html).
The film premiered at SXSW in March 2017, with Wiseau himself in the theater; when the audience realized he was present, they rose and chanted his name[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tommy-wiseau-in-the-disaster-artist-wants-to-be-taken-seriously-james-franco-can-relate/2017/11/29/09652e5a-cfd2-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html). Franco, who had feared Wiseau would denounce the film, described the moment as likely the first time Wiseau had heard unironic applause and support[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tommy-wiseau-in-the-disaster-artist-wants-to-be-taken-seriously-james-franco-can-relate/2017/11/29/09652e5a-cfd2-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html). At the end of the film, a closing montage shows scenes from the real *The Room* side by side with the reenactments[9](https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstreams/f0789a73-46e3-45fc-9a4c-c7e86efdd6cf/download), a comparison that makes clear how faithfully Franco reproduced Wiseau's voice, which many viewers initially took for an absurd comic invention[10](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-disaster-artist-review-release-date-james-franco-oscars-2018-the-room-tommy-wiseau-a8081931.html).
## Reception and awards
The film earned critical praise. Rotten Tomatoes lists a 90 percent Tomatometer across 346 reviews (313 fresh, 33 rotten), with an 85 percent audience score from more than 10,000 ratings[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist), and Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 76, with 39 of 44 critic reviews positive, 5 mixed, and none negative[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-disaster-artist/). [In Time](https://www.edgepedia.org/in-time)'s tally of the best-reviewed movies of 2017 it stood at 96 percent[11](https://time.com/5077684/rotten-tomatoes-certified-fresh-2017-2/). After it was Certified Fresh, Seth Rogen tweeted, "We made a movie about the worst movie and it might be our best movie"[12](https://theithacan.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Binder1.pdf).
At the 2018 Golden Globes, Franco won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, his first Golden Globe, beating, among others, [Daniel Kaluuya](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-kaluuya) of *Get Out*[5](https://time.com/5092558/james-franco-blocks-tommy-wiseau/) • [13](https://time.com/5093083/get-out-the-post-golden-globes/). He brought Wiseau onstage; when Wiseau moved to take the microphone, Franco blocked him, a moment that became one of the biggest memes of the night[5](https://time.com/5092558/james-franco-blocks-tommy-wiseau/). The film received 11 major nominations in 2018 and won 2 awards[14](https://envelope.latimes.com/awards/titles/disaster-artist/), and it was among the films Time named as contenders for the 2018 [Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-adapted-screenplay)[15](https://time.com/5171517/2018-oscar-predictions/).
## Cult context and comparison
Critics repeatedly framed the film in the tradition of [Tim Burton](https://www.edgepedia.org/tim-burton)'s *Ed Wood* (1994), another affectionate portrait of a famously bad filmmaker; Brian Tallerico's review on Rotten Tomatoes praised its blend of admiration, comedy, and sympathy for a man whose dream outstripped his ability[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist), and Brian Eggert of Deep Focus Review wrote that the film captures "the same balance of admiration, mockery, and craft as Tim Burton's *Ed Wood* (1994)"[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist). Reviewers also noted the mutual reinforcement of the two films: wherever either screens, it now drives interest in the other[10](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-disaster-artist-review-release-date-james-franco-oscars-2018-the-room-tommy-wiseau-a8081931.html).
**The phenomenon behind the story.** WIRED argued that the phenomenon at the heart of the film, a terrible movie spreading slowly through midnight screenings and word of mouth, could not be replicated today: in 2003, long-form online video was rare, streaming platforms were years from viability, and social media had not yet become a constant pop-culture amplifier, so discovering *The Room* took deliberate effort, with some of its first major New York City screenings not held until 2009[16](https://www.wired.com/story/disaster-artist-digital-cult-classics/).
## References
1. [James Franco and Seth Rogen Are Taking on The Room, Time (2015)](https://time.com/4093384/james-franco-seth-rogen-the-room/)
2. [Why James and Dave Franco Waited Their Whole Lives To Make a Movie Together, Time (2017)](https://time.com/5027054/james-and-dave-franco-the-disaster-artist/)
3. [The Disaster Artist, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_disaster_artist)
4. [The Disaster Artist Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-disaster-artist/)
5. [The Internet Can't Get Over James Franco Blocking Tommy Wiseau, Time (2018)](https://time.com/5092558/james-franco-blocks-tommy-wiseau/)
6. ['The Disaster Artist' Film Review, TheWrap (2017)](https://www.thewrap.com/the-disaster-artist-review-james-franco-tommy-wiseau-the-room/)
7. [Tommy Wiseau in The Disaster Artist wants to be taken seriously, The Washington Post (2017)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tommy-wiseau-in-the-disaster-artist-wants-to-be-taken-seriously-james-franco-can-relate/2017/11/29/09652e5a-cfd2-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html)
8. [The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room Summary, SuperSummary](https://www.supersummary.com/the-disaster-artist/summary/)
9. [The Disaster Artist Review, SUNY student publication (2018)](https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstreams/f0789a73-46e3-45fc-9a4c-c7e86efdd6cf/download)
10. [The Disaster Artist review: A sympathetic look at the worst film ever made, The Independent (2017)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-disaster-artist-review-release-date-james-franco-oscars-2018-the-room-tommy-wiseau-a8081931.html)
11. [Here Are Rotten Tomatoes' Best Reviewed Movies of 2017, Time](https://time.com/5077684/rotten-tomatoes-certified-fresh-2017-2/)
12. [Thursday, December 14, 2017 Reviews, The Ithacan](https://theithacan.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Binder1.pdf)
13. [Get Out, The Post and Dunkirk Snubbed at the Golden Globes, Time (2018)](https://time.com/5093083/get-out-the-post-golden-globes/)
14. [The Disaster Artist: Nominations and awards, Los Angeles Times Envelope](https://envelope.latimes.com/awards/titles/disaster-artist/)
15. [Here's Who Will Win at the 2018 Oscars, Time (2018)](https://time.com/5171517/2018-oscar-predictions/)
16. [The Disaster Artist: A Movie About a Movie That Could Never Exist Today, WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/disaster-artist-digital-cult-classics/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Memoirs, biographies, and literary nonfiction › Memoirs and autobiographies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license