LOS ANGELES, June 1 — “Entourage”, the show about Hollywood fame, fortune and friendship, ran from 2004 to 2011 -- a longer stretch than even “Sex and the City”.
Now, just like the latter, it’s getting its own cinematic sequel. Let’s take a look at what’s changed, and what’s stayed the same.
Still on board are key members of the original production both behind and in front of camera.
The core crew of aspirational lads are back — Adrian Grenier leads as Vincent Chase, a good-looking film star with directorial ambitions.
He teams up with Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), who has accepted a position as the head of a major movie studio (read: Warner Bros, the “Entourage” distributor) and is willing—perhaps too willing—to finance Chase’s first feature.
The Ari character, based on super-agent Ari Emanuel, has even been kept busy in the period between TV and film productions, with Hachette Books publishing a real book based on his life advice, The Gold Standard: Rules to Rule By.
There’s Kevin Dillon as Chase’s brother Johnny, Jerry Ferrara as Turtle, Kevin Connolly as Eric and Gold’s companions Dana Gordon (Constance Zimmer) and Melissa Gold (Perrey Reeves), who are also in on things.
New on the scene are Billy Bob Thornton and Haley Joel Osment, playing a wealthy father-son team that Gold needs on his side in order to save his career when Vince’s film goes over budget. Musician Kid Cudi appears as one of Gold’s employees, Allen, and there’s space for Oscar winner Martin Landau and rapper Bow Wow after limited time in the series.
Creator, principal writer and executive producer Doug Ellin transitions from directing a half dozen of the TV show’s 96 episodes to helming the $30m feature film extension.
Set to continue the series’ tradition for cameo appearances are a host of US and international names. Actors like Jessica Alba, Kelsey Grammer, Gary Busey, David Spade and real-life inspiration (and executive producer) Mark Wahlberg enhance a semi-fictional Hollywood’s credibility.
Others, like NFL players Tom Brady and Russell Wilson, football star Thierry Henry, and musicians Pharrell, TI and Calvin Harris provide extra-curricular star power.
Then, on the business side of things, Warren Buffett and Mark Cuban look capable of providing Ari Gold with serious opposition — or support.
A theatrical release for “Entourage” beckons on June 3 in the USA and Canada, and June 4 in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, with an international roll-out to continue over the following weeks. — AFP-Relaxnews
