Now playing in theaters is writer/director Doug Ellin’s feature film adaptation of his long-running HBO series Entourage. The movie picks up where the series left off, with Ari (Jeremy Piven) now a successful studio head and Vince (Adrien Grenier) stretching his “talent” by making his feature directorial debut on a supernatural adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The film also stars Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Dillon, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Billy Bob Thornton, Haley Joel Osment, Rex Lee, Debi Mazar, Constance Zimmer, Emily Ratajkowski, and Ronda Rousey. For more on the film, here’s all our previous coverage and eight clips from the film.

At the Los Angeles press day I landed an exclusive video interview with Doug Ellin. He talked about his original idea for the film and how it changed, what he learned from test screenings, the cameos, his Blu-ray plans, what it was like directing Rob Gronkowski, the status of Bad Santa 2, and a lot more.

Here’s the interview followed by a time index of what we talked about.

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Image via Warner Bros.

 

Doug Ellin:

  • :04 - What did he learn from test screenings that impacted the final version of the movie? Says the only problem test audiences had with the movie was that they wanted more.
  • 1:17 - How much did he take into account what the fans wanted when he wrote the script? Says he tried to go back to the classic Entourage feeling of the early seasons.
  • 2:25 - What was the process of lining up all the cameos?
  • 3:52 - How long was the first cut versus what ended up in theaters? The first draft of his script was 158 pages, but the first cut came in just over 90 minutes. Very little was cut from the script.
  • 5:27 - What are the plans for Blu-ray extras?
  • 6:10 - Did he ever feel apprehension about having his son on set during the more profane moments?
  • 6:50 - From when he first conceived of the movie to the final film, how much changed along the way? Says his producer/partner hated the first script that he turned in.
  • 7:42 - What was the plot of the abandoned script?
  • 9:24 - Is he a Patriots or Giants fan?
  • 10:02 - What was it like directing Rob Gronkowski?
  • 12:00 - Talk about filming in LA. Was there a specific location that he really wanted in the film?
  • 12:30 - What's he working on next?
  • 12:44 - What is the status of Bad Santa 2?
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