Wiseau wrote, directed and stars in the film about a shark that devastates New Orleans.
March 23, 2023 | 10:01 p.m. ET
The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Since then, Tommy Wiseau has directed his first feature film The room, and the trailer for the project – dubbed Big Shark – is out now.
Per Diversity, great shark follows New Orleans firefighters Georgie, Patrick and Tim as they try to save their city from the eponymous fishy menace. In addition to writing and directing the film, Wiseau stars alongside Isaiah LaBorde and Mark Valeriano. Wonderful, the trailer for the pic looks like it was made in iMovie, with ridiculous red text assaulting the screen over dramatic action music before its stars race through the streets of NOLA, where the shark inexplicably manages to take them to hunt.
Wiseau has big plans for Big Shark. The film will debut at a screening in Portland on April 2 before moving to other markets hosted by Prytania Theaters, with the filmmaker appearing at each event. For now, the tentative schedule includes performances at Canal Place in New Orleans on April 28th and 29th, the Balboa Theater in San Francisco on May 5th and 6th, the Landmark Westwood in Los Angeles on June 2nd and 3rd, and The Village East by Angelika in New York City on August 10, 11 and 12. A release of the “Official Final Cut Version” of the film will follow the screenings.
The room, Wiseau’s first feature film premiered in 2003 to savage reviews. Over time, however, the film’s melodrama and scattered narrative structure have garnered a cult following, perhaps out of sheer fascination. In 2013, Greg Sestero, who starred in the film, was released the disaster artist, a reminder of the making of the film. The book – and James Franco’s 2017 film adaptation of the work – laid the groundwork The room and Wiseau back in the national spotlight. Bob Odenkirk recently announced that he will star in a green screen remake of The room.
Although his first film was being planned, Wiseau never stopped working. In 2004 he produced the documentary homeless in america, and later guest stars on Tim and Eric Great show, great job! The filmmaker later wrote, directed and starred in the six-episode sitcom The neighbours for Hulu, and in 2017 he and Sestero co-starred in the Sestero-penned film Best friends.
