The story of legendary stoner comedy team Cheech and Chong is coming to the big screen. Hidden Pictures has a biopic of the duo in the works from director Kristian Mercado. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong have reunited to produce a movie depicting their early years as a comedy duo and their rise to Hollywood success.
Said the duo in a statement, “We are excited to show the world how two dudes from completely different backgrounds got together, changed comedy, and made cannabis mainstream!” Director Mercado’s debut feature, the Anthony Mackie/Zoe Chao sci-fi comedy If You Were the Last, premiered at South by Southwest this month. He has an extensive background in directing comedy specials for Ilana Glazer, Taylor Tomlinson, and Hannibal Buress, and is also attached to Paramount’s reboot of Aeon Flux.
Marin and Chong met in Canada in the late ’60s; Chong was Canadian, and the Angeleno Marin had moved there to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. Together, they became a stand-up comedy duo famous for their reflections on the counterculture, the hippie lifestyle, and especially their enthusiasm for marijuana. After producing a series of best-selling comedy albums, they hit the big screen with 1978’s Up In Smoke, which grossed over $100 million dollars on a $2 million budget. After two successful sequels, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie and Nice Dreams, and several less-successful follow-ups, the duo went their separate ways in the mid-’80s, and pursued their own acting careers. Marin became a frequent collaborator with director Robert Rodriguez, and starred in the Don Johnson cop show Nash Bridges; he recently appeared in Shotgun Wedding and Champions. Chong had a prominent supporting role in That ’70s Show, which he reprised in Netflix’s revival series That ’90s Show; he also became an advocate for cannabis legalization, and established a business selling marijuana paraphernalia, which landed him in jail for nine months. The duo have since reunited sporadically for guest appearances, comedy tours, and 2013’s Cheech and Chong’s Animated Movie.
Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan (Gabby Duran and The Unsittables, K-Pop: Demon Hunters) will write the script. Todd Lieberman will produce with Alex Young via Hidden Pictures, as will Underground’s Trevor Engelson, and Douglas Banker of Five All in the Fifth Entertainment. Marin and Chong will executive produce with David Glickman.
Check out our interview with Marin below:
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