In a new, four-minute short film directed by Entourage creator Doug Ellin, the story of what brought Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) out of retirement is told with some help from a very special automobile: Cadillac’s Ciel concept car.
The film serves as both a prequel and an advertisement for Cadillac, who sponsored the short film’s production. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ellin’s introduction to the concept car provided some of the impetus for him to write the script for the Entourage movie — so it made sense to make it a part of the movie’s universe. Even if the story is true, and the combination of the commercial and the movie was as organic as expressed, it’s a pretty bizarre meeting of ad and art — but that is a damn pretty car.
“The car has a big plot point,” said Ellin of the Ciel’s role in both the short film and the feature.
In the short film, audiences are given a hint of that role when Ari encounters the car while pretending to enjoy his self-imposed retirement in Italy. The encounter leads to Ari chasing down the car’s driver, who is a comically long-haired Italian version of himself (with a terrible accent) and finally driving off into the sunset in the slick retro-ride, announcing to the world that he is indeed back in action.
“Ari’s in what seems to be the most romantic place on earth with his wife but clearly communicates it’s not where he’s supposed to be or wants to be,” said Ellin of the short film, which was initially going to be a scene in the feature-length movie. “I thought people would want to know what Ari has been doing since the show ended, so it was a perfect opportunity to do that and make a separate short film.”
Based on the HBO series of the same name, Entourage features Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, and Jeremy Piven reprising their roles from the hit series. They’re joined by Billy Bob Thornton and Haley Joel Osment in new roles created for the movie.
In the film, Hollywood star Vincent Chase (Grenier) is once again joined by his friends Eric (Connolly), Turtle (Ferrara), and Johnny (Dillon) as they navigate the movie industry alongside former talent agent Ari Gold (Piven), who now heads his own studio.
Entourage hits theaters June 5, 2015.
