What 2003 film starring Tommy Wiseau is often called the 'Citizen Kane of bad movies'? The answer is The Room. Wiseau wrote, directed, produced and starred in this independent romantic drama about Johnny, his fiancée Lisa and his best friend Mark, whose affair creates the film's central love triangle.
The movie began as a stage play written by Wiseau in 2001. After failing to get the play published, he adapted it into a film and financed the production himself. The reported budget was $6 million, an unusually large sum for a project that eventually became known for its technical mistakes, abrupt story changes and awkward dialogue.
The Room opened in Los Angeles on June 27, 2003, in a limited release and was initially a commercial failure. Its reputation changed through home video, midnight screenings and audience participation. Fans began throwing plastic spoons, shouting familiar lines and treating screenings as communal comedy events.
The “Citizen Kane of bad movies” description is a critical comparison, not the film's official title. The phrase reflects the movie's unusual status: it is widely mocked as inept yet celebrated as a uniquely entertaining cult phenomenon. Greg Sestero later chronicled its production in the memoir The Disaster Artist, adapted into a 2017 film.