You Can’t Stream ‘The Room’ Before Seeing ‘The Disaster Artist’ — And Why That’s A Good Thing

Our collective crushes on James Franco will kick into high-gear this December as he directs and stars in The Disaster Artist. It might not seem obvious at first, with all that makeup and the scraggly hair and the baggy cargo pants that fully transform him into the man behind The Room, Tommy Wiseau — but remember, this is James Franco. There’s little he can’t do — even when balancing studying, teaching, writing, directing, and acting, which he seems to do very frequently and all at once.

The Disaster Artist is a film based on the book of the same name, which recounts the making of The Room, the 2003 cult hit that has become nothing less than a cinematic phenomenon. Hailed as “the Worst Movie Ever Made,” audiences flocked to midnight screenings to witness the on-screen trainwreck with their own eyes.

So is it imperative that you see this hot mess that Wiseau wrote, directed, produced, and starred in as main character Johnny, before you see the Franco take on the making of the movie? Nope. Not at all. In fact, it wouldn’t be easy for you even if you wanted to. The Room cannot be found on any major streaming platform, save for a Spanish-subtitled YouTube upload that probably won’t last for too long. You can’t even rent or purchase a digital copy of the 1 hour and 40 minute convoluted jumble of plot-holed scenes. Your best bet would to be to order the DVD on Amazon or Tommy’s own website and wait for it to show up. But honestly? This is for the best! Really! As co-writer Michael H. Weber explained on Twitter:

The Room was not designed for you to pop it in your DVD player at home and kick back on the couch alone to view. If you think you’re going to employ your binge-watch strategy and get all cozy under a blanket to see what the fuss is about, you’d be throwing that blanket across the room less than 1 minute into your viewing. It’s necessary to have fellow viewers around to share in all the WTF moments. In fact, part of the charm and appeal for people who are admittedly obsessed with this movie is that they attended a Rocky Horror Picture Show-esque screening. If you’re wondering….how? Well, there are a few things to know.

First of all, reading The Disaster Artist book, by Wiseau’s best bud and co-star Greg Sestero, would be more enlightening than any 10 seconds of the film. The book is a funny and unbelievable account of how the two met in a San Francisco acting class and went on to the adventure of making this impossible film together. Sestero explains how audiences began to bring footballs to screenings for a leisurely toss in the theater aisles, just as Johnny displays on screen. And if you’ve heard whispers of spoons being involved? Well, that’s all because Wiseau couldn’t be bothered to remove the stock photos of spoons from frames used as props on set, leading audiences to now chuck plastic spoons at the screen every time they pop up. Yes, a horrendous movie has inspired a joyful, interactive event at movie theaters all across the globe for nearly 15 years.

So you’re going to just jump right ahead and see The Disaster Artist movie? Good choice! It’s getting glowing reviews and boasts a cast that includes nearly all your favorite comedic performers. You’ll probably want to see this one in a packed theater as well, the same way The Room should be viewed. If you insist on seeing the original film first, at least plan to watch it with a group of people — it’s what makes the experience as significant as it has become. You’ll need several other eyeballs to share glances with, from quizzical to complete and total disbelief. Plus, you’ll want to make sure you’re not hallucinating through the film. But if you’re good with the general gist of what the movie is like, this “highlights” video should do the trick, and contains some of the most talked about (aka bonkers) scenes from the film:

If you want even more info on The Room phenomenon, this Entertainment Weekly piece gives you more info than you’ll ever want. If you want to see Franco easily slip into Wiseau, this interview is rather entertaining:

Plus, if you’re ready to take a journey down a YouTube hole of The Disaster Artist press tour goodness, you have to see James and Dave Franco being interviewed with their real life counterparts, Wiseau and Sestero.

Perhaps the biggest revelation there? That Wiseau trusted Franco in telling the story of The Room after seeing him in the 2002 film (directed by Nicolas Cage!) Sonny.