10 Unbelievable Behind-The-Scenes Stories About The Room
3. Paramount Pictures Rejected It In 24 Hours
There’s a lot of things you can’t do in a day. You can’t build Rome, you can’t change the world, but, if you’re Paramount Pictures, you can definitely reject a film.
Once The Room was completed – a moment I imagine was similar to Dr. Frankenstein pulling the lever – Tommy Wiseau, pleased with his monster, sent a copy of it on tape to distributor, Paramount, in the hope that they would help to get his “masterpiece” out in cinemas.
Sadly, Wiseau’s hopes were dashed and they were dashed in record time, as just 24 hours later, the company got back to him with their answer. I won’t tell you what they said, but I will tell you that their answer rhymed with “so”.
What’s even more tragic about this is that is probable some sort of record, as Paramount’s usual response time for a movie submission is two weeks. Paramount realised that they didn’t want to distribute The Room 13 days quicker than they do on average for other films. I’m no mathematician, but I even I know that’s bad.
Saying that, perhaps if The Room had been picked up by Paramount, then maybe it wouldn’t have become the cult classic it is today. Everything happens for a reason, as they say.