Creator Doug Ellis and stars Piven and Adrian Grenier are on board for an Entourage reboot, but Mark Wahlberg may be the deciding factor.
It seems like Mark Wahlberg and the rest of the Surroundings gang may need to hug it out, as Jeremy Piven is saying he’s the major snag in a potential reboot. Wahlberg, whose exploits with his funky bunch (not that one) were a key inspiration for the story and characters, also served as an executive producer.
Speaking with TMZ, Piven (who won three Emmys for playing Ari Gold) said that if Mark Wahlberg can find the time to throw his weight and starpower behind an Surroundings reboot, it will be a Tarvold-level victory for all. “If Mark and his team were really behind it, that would be some nice momentum…Listen, Mark wakes up, he gets about 11 minutes sleep. He wakes up and he prays, he crushes the weights, he never stops! So…when he comes up for air in a little crack of time, just make that call to HBO and everybody wins.” He added, “He knows the reach of that show, we really connect with people…I see in real time that people really miss it…I think Mark knows that as well because he hears it and he feels it so it’s just a matter of, like, him stepping up…I don’t know [if he will].”
Surroundings creator Doug Ellin has previously expressed interest in bringing the show back, but, like Piven, says much of it does in fact rely on Mark Wahlberg. Then again, maybe he just wants to resurrect it so he can put Johnny Drama through another doomed audition. Adrian Grenier, who played superstar Vincent Chase, is also down for a reboot. And considering Kevin Connolly swung out big time directing Gottihe might have a desire to get back into E’s tiny shoes…
Still, even if Mark Wahlberg set his sights on getting Surroundings back on HBO, there might be concerns that the bro-centric show may not be viewed in high regard following the #MeToo movement, a sentiment that Ellin has pushed back at.
Notably, Mark Wahlberg was also the first major cameo on Surroundingswhile the final episode featured Mike Ditka, to give you an idea of how much the quality dropped (that said, it was a satisfying enough finale, at least more so than the movie that followed in 2015).
Are you down for an Surroundings reboot or was the movie enough? What would you want to see in it? Let us know below!