Bob Odenkirk to Star in Remake of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room

Bob Odenkirk, the beloved and acclaimed actor behind Better Call Saul and Nobody, is set to star in a remake of Tommy Wiseau’s notoriously awful indie film The Room. The remake is being made for charity, and Wiseau Films was not aware that it was happening, per Variety. The Room is being produced through Acting For a Cause, who fundraise for charity off of one-time-only digital performances. Proceeds from the remake of The Room will reportedly be directed to amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

Rumors started to spread about Odenkirk appearing in a version of The Room earlier in the week, and came to a head when Slashfilm broke the news. Still technically a rumor at that point, Odenkirk responded to the article with an enthusiastic confirmation.

“This is real. This is true,” Odenkirk said on social media. “And let me tell you, I tried my best to SELL every line, as honestly as I could…and I had a BLAST.”

You can see a first-look, which appears to show Odenkirk performing alongisde Acting For a Cause founder Brando Crawford, here:

Most of the movie was apparently shot on green screen, lending it an authentic low-budget feel even though the remake has the benefit of big stars, which isn’t something you could say about the original. 

The Room, released in 2003, was written, directed, and produced by Wiseau, who also starred in the film. The vanity project starred him as Johnny, a jilted lover who suspects his best friend and his girlfriend are having an affair. But that synopsis hardly does the unhinged nature of the script and performances justice. The Room became a favorite punching bag for internet reviewers, who (either by design or accident) transformed it into absolutely essential viewing for “so-awful-it’s-great” cinemaphiles. 

The movie, a dark melodrama, is so strangely filmed and acted that it became popular to watch as a comedy, with audiences roaring with laughter. Wiseau was reportedly hurt by this at first, but later adopted this philosophy, and now claims the movie was always meant to be satirical.

Wiseau’s friend and co-star Greg Sestero wrote an autobiographical account of the production of The Room, which emphasized how personally strange Wiseau is and how profoundly weird the filming conditions were. That book, called The Disaster Artist, was later adapted into a feature film by director and star James Franco.

Odenkirk, Cameron Kasky, and Bella Heathcoate are among the cast for The Room, and the remake reportedly filmed in January. There is no firm release date in place yet.