It’s been a nearly a full year since filming wrapped on James Franco‘s “The Masterpiece,” so where is it? The movie has a great premise, telling the story of the making of Tommy Wiseau‘s cult disasterpiece “The Room,” and terrific talent, with a script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (“(500) Days Of Summer,” “The Spectacular Now,” “The Fault In Our Stars“), while Franco plays Wiseau and is surrounded by an ensemble that includes Seth Rogen, Dave Franco, Zac Efron, Alison Brie, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and many more. Around the water cooler at The Playlist, we figured the movie might pop up at the Sundance Film Festival next month, but thus far, there’s been no word. And perhaps Franco’s ridiculously busy schedule has meant that editing on the movie has been slow going. Whatever the case, our curiosity remains piqued, especially with this latest bit of news about the movie.
Chatting with the South China Morning Post, Franco shared an interesting detail about Bryan Cranston‘s role in “The Masterpiece,” one that may give fans of a certain early ’00s sitcom a bit of nostalgia.
“It took eight months for [‘Why Him?‘] to go ahead and I asked Bryan to play Sheriff in ‘In Dubious Battle,’ and then I directed ‘The Masterpiece’ and he did that too. I asked if he would play himself, and he actually plays a version of himself from the early 2000s, so it’s Bryan Cranston from ‘Malcolm in the Middle.’ It just speaks to his love of cinema that he supports his fellow artists,” Franco said.
Well, that’s intriguing and it may not be the only era-specific cameo, as IMDB lists Zach Braff in the cast playing himself as well, presumably from his “Scrubs” days. And it makes us wonder what other cameos Franco might have hidden up his sleeve.
All of this makes us increasingly interested in “The Masterpiece,” so let’s hope it sees the light of day soon. Perhaps at SXSW?