At this point, an on-screen pairing between Seth Rogen and James Franco isn’t much of surprise. After all, the Freaks and Geeks alums have co-starred in numerous films together including Pineapple Express, This Is the End and The Interview and share an off-screen rapport nearly as recognizable as anything the funnymen have put together on the silver screen. Still, this is kind of interesting- Rogen (currently appearing on screen in the awards contender Steve Jobs) appears to be in talks to join Franco’s latest film The Disaster Artist according to an exclusive over at The Tracking Board.
The film, set to start shooting sometime in December, is a backstage drama centering on the making of the infamous movie The Room. The film, one of those “so bad, it’s good” types (in some quarters the film has been hailed as “the best worst movie ever made”) was minimally released back in 2003 and has since become punching bag and cult favorite on the midnight movie circuit. Tommy Wiseau was the brainchild behind the movie- he wrote, directed and starred in The Room. The book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room was written by Greg Sestero (who appeared in the film as Mark) and journalist Tom Bissell and chronicled the bizarre making of the film. That book served as the basis for the upcoming film adaptation- Franco optioned the rights back in 2014. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (screenwriters behind 500 Days of Summer and The Spectacular Now) penned the adaptation.
Franco will portray Wiseau as well as direct and produce the film- something that seems fitting given the property and Franco’s idiosyncratic tenancies as a performer and filmmaker; Dave Franco is also set to play Sestero in the film . Rogen’s potential role hasn’t disclosed but Rogen as well as partner Evan Goldberg appear to joining The Disaster Artist as producers as well. Also, it appears that Brandon Trost, cinematographer behind many Rogen/Franco joints (The Interview, Neighbors, the upcoming The Night Before) will serve as director of photography on the project- Trost recently filmed the critically acclaimed art house film The Diary of Teenage Girl and the soon to-be-released Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse.
Rogen previously appeared in the films The Sound and the Fury and Zeroville under Franco’s direction. The actor will next be seen in the comedy The Night Before alongside 50/50 pal Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Walk), Lizzy Caplan (The Interview) and Michael Shannon (99 Homes). Both Rogen and Franco will lend their voices to the animated feature Sausage Party, a raunchy flick headed to theaters sometime in 2016. There’s no word yet on distribution for The Disaster Artist or projection as to when it may arrive in theaters. We will stay tuned. Hopefully, however, future reunions between the two will be less contentious than last winters’ The Interview.
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