Bob Odenkirk’s dream is for the cult hit The Room, as Harry Styles immortally put it, to be considered a real movie.
The ‘Better Call Saul’ graduate will take on the role of Johnny, created by writer-director Tommy Wiseau, in a remake of the 2003 film. The remake will benefit amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, with Mike Flanagan, Kate Siegel, Justin Decloux, Brando Crawford, Cameron Kasky, Arturo Castro and Bella Heathcote rounding out the cast.
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The Room follows San Francisco resident Johnny as he wrestles with his fiancee who is cheating on him with his best friend. A first look at the philanthropic remake saw original actor Greg Sestero on set.
But the outrageous script cemented the wannabe Shakespearean tragedy The Room into iconic B-movie status – something Odenkirk single-handedly wants to undo.
“I’m not changing the lines, but I’m doing them my own way, in a way that hopefully feels legitimate and real,” Odenkirk told Entertainment Weekly. “And I think I did it, and then there are scenes that I just couldn’t do. You just can’t legitimize them. I mean they’re crazy. The things people say are so crazy!”
The Emmy winner continued, “I’m not making fun of Tommy’s performance or making fun of the script. I say, ‘This is your script. Bob Odenkirk, this is your role. How are you going to make it real and make it feel real?’ My dream is that you watch it and even for just a scene or two you’re like, ‘Wow, OK! It’s a real movie, I would see it!’ You’re just thinking for a second, ‘Am I going to see a real performance and am I actually a little touched by The Room?’”
The Room remake will use actual stills from the real 2003 film as backdrops behind Odenkirk and the rest of the cast, who shot the film in front of a green screen.
The story goes on
“I said, ‘Can I just do it like I, Bob Odenkirk, got the part and my job is to sell it and make it the best I can?'” Odenkirk recalled. “Well, we’ll see if I made it, but man, I had fun! We laughed our heads off… And for a good cause! I hope they raise a lot of money.”
The behind-the-scenes making of The Room was previously brought to the big screen with 2017’s The Disaster Artist, starring James Franco as Wiseau. Franco won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for the film, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber and adapted from Sestero’s memoir The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside ‘The Room’, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made.
“Not long ago, we were outsiders who really wanted to get into the business,” Weber told IndieWire at the time. “We believed in each other when no one else believed in us, when most of the people around us thought our dream was ridiculous. This is the story of Tommy and Greg.”
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