Entourage finally gets to big screen
After multiple delays, HBO hit ready to go on at a theatre near you
The Entourage transition from series to film seemed like a natural next step in 2011 when the Emmy- winning show ended its eight- year run.
Another HBO hit, Sex and the City, had managed the transformation with a 2008 movie winner, so similar Entourage plans were put in place. But one stall led to another. Eventually, salary squabbles were settled and Doug Ellin’s script received its last polish. The movie version is ready to go.
“The rocky road to production was kind of overstated,” says Ellin, who co- created the series with Mark Wahlberg and also directed and co- wrote the film.
Mostly, Ellin and his cast promoting the Entourage film are just happy to report that the movie show will go on at a theatre near you.
In the latest adventure, the stakes are raised. Ari Gold ( Jeremy Piven) goes from super agent to studio mogul who hires his buddy and movie star Vince ( Adrian Grenier) to headline and direct a big production called Hyde ( as in Jekyll).
Typically, Vince’s manager, Eric, a. k. a. E ( Kevin Connolly) is by the actor’s side, while Turtle ( Jerry Ferrara) expands his prospects and Vince’s half- brother Johnny ( Drama) Chase ( Kevin Dillon) continues to hope for his break.
The catch in this is that the main Hyde investor, a Texas billionaire ( Billy Bob Thornton) and his selfentitled son ( Haley Joel Osment), are less than pleased with Vince.
A few series regulars are also in the movie. E’s ex- girlfriend Sloan ( Emmanuelle Chriqui) is around and pregnant. Ari’s wife ( Perrey Reeves) continues to insist on couples counselling. Ari’s former assistant turned agent Lloyd ( Rex Lee) needs a favour. Publicist Shauna ( Debi Mazar) is still trying to cope with Vince and company as studio boss Dana Gordon ( Constance Zimmer) puts up with Ari.
As usual, farce blends with parody and satire in the comedy department while a few sex scenes are mixed in with celebrity cameos as Entourage offers its backstage glimpse at Hollywood excess.
Even Wahlberg shows up a few times in the film. So what took the film so long? Ellin insists it was all about developing the multiple stories for the main cast members. “I wanted everybody to be serviced,” he says. “For us, it wasn’t much more than an extended hiatus between seasons of the show,” Connolly says of the delay, but admitting later: “Without ( Wahlberg), I don’t think we’re doing this movie.”
But do it they did, just as they had in the series, although Ellin admits he may have outdone himself in the cameo zone with more than 50 special guests.
Meanwhile, most of the dialogue seems to be a frenzy of improvisation, but it’s not. Ellin says he made his actors stick to the screenplay even closer than they did on the series. Yet the key ingredient to the ensemble recipe, Chriqui says, is the multi- faceted Ellin.
Why Entourage continues to have faithful followers is more difficult to assess. Ferrara thinks some fans enjoy getting a sneak peek “at the inner workings of the business” and thanks to the bonding depicted in the series and the movie “there’s a lot of wish fulfilment.”
A simpler explanation arrives from Ellin, who agrees Wahlberg and his crew were the inspiration of Entourage. But he generally based the characters on his “meathead” buddies from Long Island.
“It’s really about friendship,” he says of Entourage’s basic attraction, “and the fish- out- of- water thing.”
Only moviegoers will decide whether there will be another reunion. Certainly, Ellin would be up for it. “The reason we did ( the movie) is that we love it,” Ellin says. “And we haven’t run out of things to say.”