A Cheech & Chong biopic written by a pair of Ren & Stimpy veterans is coming soon from Oscar winning producer Todd Lieberman’s Hidden Pictures, the company announced Wednesday.
HIdden Pictures will work on the Untitled Cheech & Chong Project with Underground, Five All in the Fifth Entertainment, and Cheech & Chong themselves — Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. Written by Danya Jiminez and Hannah McMechan (the upcoming K-Pop: Demon Hunters), it will be directed by Kristian Mercado, whose film If You Were the Last just debuted at SXSW.
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“We are excited to show the world how two dudes from completely different backgrounds got together, changed comedy, and made cannabis mainstream!” said Cheech & Chong.
Cheech & Chong & Changing Comedy
Hidden Pictures describes the Cheech & Chong biopic as “a look at the origin of this iconic comedy duo, and how they both came together to change comedy and stoner culture forever.”
Lieberman (The Fighter, The Proposal, Wonder, Rescue Rangers) and Alex Young (Wonder, Rescue Rangers, Stronger) of Hidden Pictures will produce alongside Underground’s Trevor Engelson (Snowfall) and Douglas Banker (The After Party, Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James) of Five All in the Fifth Entertainment.
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Cheech & Chong will executive produce along with David Glickman. Lieberman and Young recently worked with Cheech Marin on Amazon’s Shotgun Wedding, starring Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel.
Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong became massive comedy stars of the late 1970s and ’80s with a run of hits that included 1978’s Up in Smoke, 1980’s Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie, and 1981’s Cheech & Chong’s Nice Dreams. They traded on the comic personas as lovable, normal bumblers obsessed with finding their next toke.
“Working with Cheech and Chong is a childhood dream of mine,” said Trevor Engelson. “I used to listen to my father’s copy of their albums growing up, so to help bring their incredible true story to a new generation of fans is a real honor.”
In addition to writing K-Pop Demon Hunters for Sony Pictures Animation, Jiminez and McMechan are also developing their feature Luna Likes with MACRO after it was featured on The Black List’s inaugural Latinx List. They were also writers on the reboot of Ren & Stimpy for Comedy Central.
Main image: Cheech & Chong, aka Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong.