On numerous occasions HBO’s Entourage has been referred to as the “guys version” of Sex and the City. The general conceit was similar: four (usually) single friends experience the ups and downs of professional and personal lives in a major metropolitan city. Coincidentally, the production woes of the film follow-up to the hit HBO series are starting to mirror fates that befell the first Sex and the City movie. Doug Ellin, the series creator, has received a green-light from Warner Bros. and is attached to write and direct the film, but the entire cast has yet to sign on.
The public discussion of the stalled follow-up seemed to start when TMZ reporters asked Wahlberg when the Entourage movie was coming out. Wahlberg responding by saying, “as soon as the guys stop being so greedy,” seemingly in jest – smiling as he made the remark. Soon after, Adrian Grenier, who played the fictional celebrity Vincent Chase, took to his Instagram to clarify his own position on the matter. Grenier wrote:
To all Entourage fans. I owe it to you to make a couple things clear. I take my role as Vince on the show & off very seriously. All decisions I make personally & for business are for the principle of friendship and brotherhood. It has, & never will be about the money for me. I promise. I will always stand up for the boys (that includes you) & do what I can to make sure they are treated fairly, and not be taken advantage of by anybody. The spirit of Entourage is about sharing the opportunities given to us and I will sign any deal that gives ALL the boys an opportunity to share in the upside of success EQUALLY. I assure you, despite the perception, there is no greed in my heart. Remember, it will all work out in the end. It always does.
Deadline reports that so far only Jeremy Piven and Kevin Connolly have made their deals, which leaves out Grenier, Jerry Ferrara, and Kevin Dillon. With Grenier coming out and saying that he “will always stand up for the boys,” it seems that the deals for Ferrara and Dillon might not be up to snuff with the contracts drawn up for Piven and Connolly. While nothing is certain, it would seem that Grenier, along with Piven and Connolly, would be take priority for higher payouts which must mean that either Grenier is not receiving what he perceives as his fair share, and is saying otherwise, or he truly believes that Dillon and Ferrara should get boosts to their salaries.
A similar incident occurred during the development process for the Sex and the City movie, when Kim Cattrall refused to join the cast until her pay was closer to Sarah Jessica Parker’s. Despite that particular snag the Sex and the City movie went off without a hitch, and ended up grossing $415 million worldwide. Only time will tell if the situation with Grenier is truthfully the opposite, and he’s waiting until the rest of his cast mates are paid sufficiently, but with the show having been off the air for two years and counting, it seems that time is not on their side.
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