James Franco’s comedy “The Disaster Artist” has nabbed a distributor and an awards-seasons release date.

A24 is partnered with New Line Cinema on the movie, which will hit theaters on Dec. 1 for exclusive engagements in the U.S., followed by a nationwide release on Dec. 8. New Line parent Warner Bros. Pictures will oversee the international distribution, with release dates to be determined.

“Disaster Artist” screened in March as a work in progress at South by Southwest, where it received a standing ovation. Critics were impressed with Franco’s performance as Tommy Wiseau in the film about the making of Wiseau’s so-bad-that-it’s-good film “The Room.”

Variety‘s Peter Debruge wrote in his review: “Like such kindred spirits in quantity over quality as Tyler Perry and Joe Swanberg, James Franco has made a crapload of movies. Sooner or later, he was bound to deliver a good one. But who would have thought his adaptation of Greg Sestero’s ‘The Disaster Artist,’ an outrageous blow-by-blow account of the actor-turned-author’s friendship with the aggressively untalented and infinitely enigmatic creator of one of the worst movies of this century — ‘The Room’ writer-director-star Tommy Wiseau — would turn out to be the best and most professional entry on his own résumé?”

Franco directed “The Disaster Artist” from a screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, based on the book by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. Franco leads the cast, along with brother Dave Franco and Seth Rogen. The ensemble also features Alison Brie, Zac Efron, Josh Hutcherson, Jacki Weaver, Ari Graynor, and Jason Mantzoukas.

“The Disaster Artist” is a New Line Cinema presentation in association with Good Universe and RatPac-Dune, a Point Grey production in association with Ramona Films.