We’ve been promised – or, depending on your feelings towards the show, threatened with – a movie version of **Entourage for years now. Both creator Doug Ellin and executive producer Mark Wahlberg have talked up the idea, but nothing has been solid on the studio front until now. Warner Bros changed that by giving the thumbs up to Vinnie Chase and the gang.
If you missed the series, it ran on HBO from 2004 until 2011 and chronicled the career ups and downs of Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his attendant friends/hangers-on etc. Chase lives the life of an up-and-coming Hollywood star, going from indie movie cred to stardom and, occasionally back down again amidst a bevy of sexy women and celebrity cameos. It was all loosely based on Wahlberg’s own rise to prominence and the friends from home who stayed by his side.
Ellin, who has been working on the script for the movie, is officially set to direct. Grenier’s making a deal to return alongside Kevin Connolly (Eric “E” Murphy, his manager and best pal), Jerry Ferrara (wannabe businessman/driver Turtle) and Kevin Dillon (Vince’s older, washed up actor brother Johnny Drama). Anchoring the whole thing with swear-laden arrogance is Jeremy Piven as driven agent Ari Gold.
We’d expect a variety of the show’s recurring regulars, including Emmanuelle Chriqui and Perrey Reeves, to show up, but that’s all still to be decided. The series ended with Vince on top and Ari quitting the agency life only to be offered the chance to run a studio – a tempting offer even if would likely lead to a divorce. Plenty of plot strands to be picked up there, though the big question will be the demand for more from Vince and the rest. There’s no start date yet, but expect this one to come together quickly.