ENTOURAGE@WHATCULTURE.com

As the end of HBO’s Entourage has come and passed (pending possible movie adaptation plans), we are left with a huge void to fill in our TV viewing. However, why should the fun end with HBO’s decision to bring the series to an end? Let’s take an in-depth look at the fictitious films Vinny Chase participated in and let you decide which would have been the most wanted film!

Lets begin where it all started….

A Walk To Remember

Although we don’t get to see Vinny’s role in this movie is a large influence on his Aquaman participation was based on his onset romance with co-star Mandy Moore. This is our one and only film that is not fictitious and has actually come to fruition. Vinny’s role was a small role.

Head On

Vince’s first breakout roll in Hollywood, where he co-starred with Jessica Alba in a crime-thriller/mystery film. The film was produced by 20^th Century Fox, not much is known about the film except it had both critical and financial success setting off the career of Vincent Chase.

Queen’s Boulevard

Now being on the radar of some of Hollywood’s biggest companies, producers, etc. Vince chose to follow his passion into a small indie film (without the backing of his agent Ari Gold). Queen’s Boulevard starred Vince Chace in the drama taking place in Queen’s, Yew York, following his character in the trials and tribulations of the rough neighborhood. The film also starred Ethan Suplee, Zooey Deschanel and Robert Duvall.

The film for artistic purposes was filmed in black and white, while featuring music by Saigon. Executives later tried to have a nationwide release of the film, after remastering the film with neon recolorization. That version was eventually blocked by Billy Walsh and Vince. The film was later released on DVD.

This is widely considered one of Vince’s best performances after it received rave reviews at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and sold a certain billion-dollar director, that Vince would be perfect for his next film.

Aquaman

James Cameron’s Aquaman was Ari Gold’s dream project for Vince, a big-budget studio film to get Vince on the map once more after his indie film hiatus. Although Vince was not initially sold on the film, he became very driven to earn the roll after learning of James Cameron’s involvement. Vince eventually starred as Arthur Curry aka Aquaman, based on the DC Comics infamous character. The film costarred Mandy Moore, Ray Liotta, James Woods, and Sharon Stone. The film went on to break Opening Weekend records then held by Spider-man after earning $116.8 million and went on to be the highest-grossing film of all time (eventually surpassed by another Cameron film, right?).

Warner Bros. Pictures wanted to capitalize on the success of Aquaman, so much like modern Hollywood, immediately green-lit a sequel. Meanwhile Vince was in pursuit of his dream role of Pablo Escobar, in the biopic Medellin. Vince eventually opts out of his contractual agreement to do Aquaman 2 (It was going to be directed by Michael Bay anyway!)

Medellin

YIKES, FAT SUIT ANYONE!?

Medellin was the story of famed drug-lord and idol of many in Columbia, South America. The film went through great pre and post production struggles but built quite a bit of excitement due to a leaked trailer. The film was accepted into the the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, where the film’s reception was the complete opposite of what was expected. The film and its stars were booed and called “one of the worst films of all time”. The film is eventually bought by Harvey Weingard for $1, and later released straight to DVD.

Smoke Jumpers

The rise and fall of Vinny Chase is most notably marked by his hiatus after the critical and financial failure of Medellin, but he comes back with a vengeance through an odd route. Vince lands the role of Ray McCabe in Smoke Jumpers, about nine firefighters battling “The Greatest Forest Fire in Oregon History”. The film starred Edward Norton, Jason Patric, and Brian Van Holt. Foreign film director Verner Vollstedt took the reigns to the $120 million budgeted film. The film eventually never even saw screens, as production was stopped due budget issues and on-set tensions between Vince and the director. However, dailies of Vince’s performance are passed along through Gus Van Sant to his close friend Martin Scorsese.

Gatsby

Vince eventually is offered the lead role of Nick Carraway in Gatsby, a modern re-imagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. The film is directed by Scorsese, produced by Van Sant, and also stars Natalie Portman as Daisy, Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby (Oddly enough this is true now for Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming adaptation of The Great Gatsby), James Franco as Tom, Emily Blunt as Jordan, while Blake Lively and Ryan Gosling portrayed Myrtle and George Wilson. The film opened #1 at the box-office and grossed a modest $37 million its opening weekend.

Ferrari

Ferrari, is Vince’s second attempt at a biopic as he starred in the life story of Italian race car driver/inventor, and founder of Ferrari car manufacturer Enzo Ferrari. The film was directed by Frank Darabont (who met Vince earlier in his career and expressed interest in working together), while the film also started Marion Cotillard, Al Pacino, Dolores Caplin, Case Affleck, and Natalie Blair.

The Takeover

Directed by Nick Cassavetes, and co-starring Rachel McAdams it appeared as if to be an action film based on what portions of the filming we were able to see throughout the seventh season. We never hear what kind of critical and financial successes the film has, but based on Vince’s actions it appears all is well.

Air-Walker

Could Vince pull off another superhero, this time from Marvel?

Vince followed his action film with another comic-book character adaptation, in the form of Stan Lee’s Air-Walker. The film was scripted and supposed to be directed by Randall Wallace, who was later replaced by Peter Berg.

So it is clear Vince has played roles all over the film spectrum. Now the question is which would we all most want to see? James Cameron and Vince saving the world with Aquaman? Pablo Escobar and his fat suit? Or maybe even the brilliant match of Martin Scorses and The Great Gatsby?