THE MUSES OF “ENTOURAGE”

Press release

Emily Ratajkowski, the breakout star of “Gone Girl” who played the mistress of Ben Affleck's character; and champion UFC fighter Ronda Rousey appear as themselves in Warner Bros. Pictures new comedy “Entourage.”

The film is the much-anticipated big-screen version of the award-winning hit HBO series, reuniting the hit show’s original cast, led by Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven.

Once again taking advantage of the theory that “everyone knows everyone in Hollywood,” “Entourage” director Doug Ellin, as he frequently has in the past, recruited actresses to play themselves opposite the fictional foursome, crafting make-believe relationships that seem strangely plausible.

Thus, real-life Emily Ratajkowski plays friend-of-Vincent-Chase (Grenier) Emily Ratajkowski, and MMA/UFC champion Ronda Rousey plays MMA/UFC champion Ronda Rousey. In her “backstory,” Rousey and Turtle (Ferrara) apparently had brief but memorable contact at Coachella—the fictional one of Ellin’s world—two years prior.

“Both women were great to work with,” Ellin says. “Emily is such a lovely person and a smart young lady, down to earth. Just a really great addition to the entourage.”

Ratajkowski is a model/actress quickly establishing herself as one of the most talked-about faces in fashion and film. Last year, she was seen in her first major movie role, playing Andie in “Gone Girl,” the David Fincher-directed adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling mystery novel. She shot to international fame in the summer of 2013 as the bombshell beauty at the center of Robin Thicke, Tip “T.I.” Harris and Pharrell Williams’ “Blurred Lines” music video, which garnered nearly 174 million views on YouTube.

Ronda Rousey truly enjoyed her turn as Ronda Rousey. “I played myself, and I happen to be an authority on myself, so I was obviously qualified.”

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

In the film, Rousey and Turtle have a somewhat volatile reunion following a misunderstanding, and an even more explosive meeting when she invites him to her place. “In the story, I’m always getting hit on by guys who are trying to make money off of me, or who are big meathead athletes, and I’m tired of them. Turtle seems like a good-looking, successful, normal guy who wants to hang out with me, but then I get the impression that he really is just trying to make money off of me, too, and that hurts my ego…which is not good for Turtle.”

“I’ve watched most of Ronda’s fights and was a fan long before she came on to the movie,” Ferrara says. “She’s very intense when she has to be, so I enjoyed seeing that armor come off a bit, and her personality come through. She has a lot of heart and takes her work very seriously, and is just a really talented, impressive person.”

Rousey took in all she could from the more seasoned actor. “I’ve only done action movies before, and I’m good with the whole run around/say one cool line/shoot something and punch that guy kind of thing. But I’m new to comedy, the walking-and-talking and the timing, and Jerry guided me through our scenes and made me feel more comfortable, especially in a romantic situation where I’m just not smooth. If I really like someone, I can become very guarded, but working with him helped me lighten up. Probably a good dating tip for my own life.”

In “Entourage,” movie star Vincent Chase (Grenier), together with his boys, Eric (Connolly), Turtle (Ferrara) and Johnny (Dillon), are back…and back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold (Piven). Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often cutthroat world of Hollywood.

“Entourage” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

ADRIAN GRENIER PLAYS HOLLYWOOD “IT” BOY IN “ENTOURAGE”

Press material

Versatile actor Adrian Grenier is best-known for his starring role as Vincent Chase on “Entourage,” one of HBO’s most popular half-hour series in the network’s history, which ran for eight seasons and was syndicated in nearly two dozen markets worldwide.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

He now reprises the iconic character in the new “Entourage” big-screen movie from Warner Bros. The film picks up where the series ended. Six days later, to be exact. Vince, having flown from Los Angeles to Paris in order to marry the woman of his dreams, is now on his honeymoon, alone. Well, not quite alone. Rather, he is cruising the Mediterranean on an enormous yacht with a couple hundred beauties in bikinis, minus his soon-to-be-ex-wife.

In order to reach their pal in his time of need (and to partake of the flowing champagne and other available vices), Eric (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Drama (Kevin Dillon) rush to his side. “It’s about loyalty, friendship and brotherhood,” director-writer Doug Ellin conveys. “These guys all take care of each other; that’s what matters the most. All the fancy cars and beautiful women, which we see plenty of in the movie, they all come second.”

“Vince happens to be a movie star, but, first and foremost, he’s a loyal friend,” cites Grenier. “He brought his buddies out to Hollywood to give them a taste of the good life he was given because of his rising stardom, and he’s shared it with them ever since.”

Ellin describes Vince as “a young guy with everything at his fingertips: talent, looks, and everybody loves him. Everyone wants to be him or be with him. He’s always brought his boys along and given them as much of that lifestyle as he can.”

Shortly after the arrival of his troops on the high seas, Vince takes a phone call from Ari (Jeremy Piven). No longer his, or anyone’s, agent, Ari presents his former star client with news, as well as a new opportunity: Ari has become head of a major movie studio, and his first order of business is to offer Vince the lead in the very first movie he will greenlight.

But Vince now has the impulse to do something different with his life, something he hasn’t done before: direct. “He’s at the height of his career and excited about taking the next step,” Grenier relates. “I think it was Doug’s way of making sure that the world is Vince’s oyster and that for him and, by association, his friends, anything is possible.”

Until six months later, after Vince has directed and starred in “Hyde.” But, like many first-time filmmakers, he’s hesitant to show his work...at least not until he gets a little more money to finish it, despite his promise to Ari not to go over budget.

Grenier explains, “I think it’s the natural instinct of a director to want to put the best product forward. Vince doesn’t want to show his movie to anyone before it’s done, because he doesn’t want to be judged on the work before it’s polished. In particular, he wants to make sure Ari’s happy, as the head of the studio. But mostly, Vince is an artist and as an artist, he just wants to get it right.”

“It’s like that dream where you’re walking into a room with no clothes on,” Kevin Connolly offers. “Showing a cut of something, as a director, you’re never more vulnerable. That’s not a comfortable place for Vince to be.”

 “Entourage” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

“ENTOURAGE” TRANSITIONS FROM HBO SERIES INTO FEATURE FILM

Press release

From the opening seconds of the first episode of HBO’s “Entourage” in 2004, viewers followed driver/errand boy Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) as he exited his bright yellow Hummer and strode distractedly through a sprinkling of Hollywood hotties into a hip Melrose Avenue restaurant, where he joined his homeboys from Queens, New York: the quartet’s de facto leader, up-and-coming movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier); former pizza boy-cum-talent manager, Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly); and Vince’s half-brother, out-of-work C-list actor Johnny “Drama” Chase (Kevin Dillon). 

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Cut to 2015 and, with nothing but blue skies and bright sun overhead, Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Entourage” opens on the familiar trio of manager-cum-movie producer Eric, drive-cum-tequila mogul Turtle, and still sometime working actor Drama.  But this time they’re navigating the wide-open sea in a speed boat, their destination a huge luxury yacht off the coast of Ibiza, where Vince, rising actor-turned-megastar, “mourns” the demise of his five-day marriage, surrounded by 200 or so of his closest acquaintances…mainly of the scantily clad female variety.  But it wouldn’t be a party without his boys, and clearly the party is back on.

The key to making the series transition into a feature film was to have the core cast from the series back together and, in classic “Entourage” fashion, to have as many guest stars and celebrity cameos as possible.

“If any one of us had said we didn’t want to do it, the movie wouldn’t have happened,” Adrian Grenier, who plays Vince, candidly states.  “But of course we all wanted to do it.  We knew we’d have a great time and were excited about it, and we also wanted to give fans, old and new, even more—more famous people, more toys and more hot girls.  Basically, the ‘Entourage’ Hollywood lifestyle in all its glory, experienced through the eyes of these lifelong friends.”

With curious onlookers lining the streets of Los Angeles during the film’s production, and real stars and athletes clamoring for a chance to have a cameo, the job of making the movie mirrored the very lifestyle the characters enjoy, and made each day on set as unpredictable as ever.

Kevin Connolly says, “We’ve always had so much fun working together, it almost feels wrong to call it work.  So it didn’t take long to get back into the groove with everybody; we all just kind of clicked back together, almost on the spot.  Even though it had been a couple of years, it really just felt like an extended hiatus, and with Doug at the helm it was easy to step back into being these guys.”

As über agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold, Jeremy Piven, who essentially plays the fifth man in this tight-knit family of friends, observes, “I really think everything works in the movie, just as it did in the series, because everything Doug Ellin writes comes from these characters’ core motivations.  Doug knows exactly what the audience wants to see; he chums the waters perfectly, but he never jumps the shark.”

            In “Entourage,” movie star Vincent Chase (Grenier), together with his boys, Eric (Connolly), Turtle (Ferrara) and Johnny (Dillon), are back…and back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold (Piven).  Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often cutthroat world of Hollywood.

            Opening across the Philippines on June 10, 2015, “Entourage” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. 

THE RIDE AIN'T OVER FOR GUYS OF “ENTOURAGE”

Press release

Warner Bros. Pictures' new comedy “Entourage,” the much-anticipated big-screen version of the award-winning hit HBO series, reunites the hit show’s original cast, led by Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven.

In the film, movie star Vincent Chase (Grenier), together with his boys, Eric (Connolly), Turtle (Ferrara) and Johnny (Dillon), are back…and back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold (Piven). Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often cutthroat world of Hollywood.

Ever cruise Sunset Boulevard in a stretch limousine, and then hit the red carpet at a star-studded movie premiere? Stop by an impromptu party on the beach in Malibu, where the sun always shines and the cocktails flow? Score the best table at the hottest restaurant in town, no reservation required? And all the while, everywhere you go, gorgeous starlets wave as you pass by.

It’s everybody’s fantasy to live the Hollywood dream, but Vince, Eric, Drama, Turtle and Ari Gold really do, and they make it all look so easy. Boy, do the boys of “Entourage” know how to do it up and do it right, how to dream large—and live larger.

To take the guys and their enviable lifestyle of access and excess to the big screen, writer/director/producer Doug Ellin, who created the hit HBO series on which the movie is based, knew that the feature film “Entourage” had to be even bigger—no small feat, considering all the ground they’d covered before. “Although the show was a big show with a lot of locations, I wanted to take it to another level for the movie, so it’s ‘Entourage’ on steroids, with glamorous yachts, planes and houses, and the stakes for everyone higher than ever.”

Despite the TV show’s popularity and its 26 Primetime Emmy Award nominations—including six wins in such categories as acting, directing, writing and outstanding comedy series—Ellin knew he not only had to up the ante, he also needed to reach moviegoers who may not have been series devotees. “The way we structured the film, you do not have to have seen one second of the show to enjoy it,” he conveys. “You’re instantly inside a movie star’s world and hanging out with him and his best friends, having fun, livin’ the dream.”

Rob Weiss, who co-wrote the story with Ellin, was happy to be involved in bringing these guys and their dream lives to moviegoers. “It’s always great working with old friends to bring other old friends back to life.”

Because the filmmakers had made a concerted effort to shoot with viewers’ aspirations in mind, the jump to the big screen felt almost like fulfilling the ultimate fantasy for the wish fulfillment-based concept.

Producer Mark Wahlberg, who served as an executive producer on the series and on whose life the idea for the original “Entourage” was loosely based, recalls, “When the show was on the air, fans couldn’t get enough of it; I’d get asked about it all the time. We’d always planned to make a feature length movie, and we knew in order to do it, it would have to make sense for all the characters. Doug found a way in: it’s the guys being the guys, along with all the great ‘Entourage’-style moments you got from the original, but bigger in every way.”

Opening across the Philippines on June 10, 2015, “Entourage” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

“ENTOURAGE” EXPANDS AS ADDITIONAL CAST JOINS THE FILM, NOW IN PRODUCTION

BURBANK, CA – March 4, 2014 – Debi Mazar, Rex Lee, Constance Zimmer, Nora Dunn and Emily Ratajkowski have joined the cast of Warner Bros. Pictures’ theatrical feature “Entourage.”  Mazar, Lee, Zimmer and Dunn will reprise their roles as Shauna, Lloyd, Dana Gordon and Dr. Marcus from the HBO hit series, and Ratajkowski will appear as herself in the film, which began principal photography in Los Angeles on February 19.   

            “Entourage” will open in theaters beginning Friday, June 12, 2015.

Written and directed by series creator Doug Ellin, the big-screen version of the award-winning show stars Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven in their original roles, as well as Billy Bob Thornton and Haley Joel Osment as Larsen and Travis McCredle.  The film also reunites series regulars Perrey Reeves as Ari Gold’s wife, Emmanuelle Chriqui as Sloan, and Rhys Coiro as Billy Walsh.  

“Entourage” is produced by Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Doug Ellin, with Wayne Carmona serving as executive producer.  The creative filmmaking team includes director of photography Steve Fierberg, production designer Chase Harlan, and costume designer Olivia Miles-Payne, all of whom worked on the long-running HBO series.

            Movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), together with his boys, Eric (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Johnny (Kevin Dillon), are back…and back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven).  Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often cutthroat world of Hollywood.

            In addition to Los Angeles, “Entourage” will also film on location in Miami, Florida. 

            “Entourage” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Home Box Office.  The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.