Ever since the TV series wrapped up its eighth season in 2013, an Entourage movie has been on the cards. Producer Mark Wahlberg says it was always a plan to take the characters to the big screen. 

'Entourage' cast promoThe cast of 'Entourage' open up about the accuracies of the movie

"A lot of fans were very upset that it wasn't on air anymore," he says, "and everywhere I'd go, people asked me when the Entourage movie was coming. So I just kept pushing the project uphill. Every time I had a chance to talk about it in a meeting, I would talk about it. I'd have financed it myself, if I had to do it!"

Star Kevin Connolly (who plays Eric) says that part of the show's appeal is its glossy take on Hollywood. "Not to say that we haven't covered some dark territory on Entourage, because I think we have," he says. "But we do it the wish-fulfilment way!"

Although co-star Jeremy Piven (Ari) argues that it's not actually about the movie business. "It's not about Hollywood, it's about these guys," he says. "It's about friendship. It's about struggling to achieve a dream. Hollywood or movies or TV - that's all just a backdrop. This was a story about a family."

Kevin Dillon (Johnny Drama) loved the way the movie allowed the cast and crew to do bigger, more outrageous things. "We start off with a tricky shot on this yacht. It's a walk-and-talk shot, three or four pages of dialogue without a cut," he says. 

Watch the trailer for 'Entourage' here:



"Yeah, our first day of shooting was on a yacht in Miami, with 250 girls in bikinis," interjects Connolly.

"And some without bikinis!" adds Dillon.

"It was easy to get back into character," laughs Jerry Ferrara (Turtle).

And Adrian Grenier (Vince) thinks that the misogynistic elements are part of the show's reality. "The treatment of women is not where it needs to be generally, in the world," he says. "But we have really strong women on the show, so I think it's lazy to just dismiss Entourage for that. Sure, there's superficial focus on pretty things, but that's the reality in our world too. It's our job to reflect the reality and push along the conversation."

More: Read our review of 'Entourage'

Wahlberg has high hopes for the movie. Even if box office takings have been modest in America, the film is still opening around the world. "This is definitely going to be a big success," he says. "It's fantastic! The stakes are so big, you're rooting for these guys to succeed, and there's so much humour and heart. We might get to make a lot more of them!"