Though Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong have lengthy been subculture icons, the earnings from their breakout movie nearly instantly went up in smoke.
In Cheech & Chong’s Final Film, the titular stoner duo recalled the “big horrible deal” that earned them $50,000 every on their first movie Up in Smoke (1978), regardless of it grossing greater than $100M worldwide and launching a franchise.
“The film comes out, and it’s a large hit,” mentioned Chong within the documentary. “No one thought Up in Smoke was going to do something however [be] a bust. However the issue was, we had successful film and each Cheech and I had been actually broke, money poor.”
He added, “Our earnings relied on our reside performances. And on a regular basis we shot Up in Smoke, we stopped touring on the highway. We had no earnings. We began wanting very carefully on the contract that we had signed with our lawyer. That was an enormous horrible deal for us. The 90-10 break up.”
When requested how a lot the movie grossed off a roughly $1.5 million finances, Chong mentioned “they’re speaking $104 million worldwide” in an interview clip from the time.
Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin in ‘Cheech and Chong‘s Final Film’ (2024) (Preserve Smokin’/Courtesy Everett Assortment)
“We obtained a pair of lime-green footwear out of the deal…. And 100 {dollars},” mentioned Marin, noting that they had been additionally given “50 thousand to separate” earlier than filming. Chong clarified, “Twenty-five thousand every.”
The pair famous that payment was “to jot down, direct and to star and promote” the movie, and the contract additionally gave them ten p.c of “some vaguely outlined one hundred pc” off the back-end. “And we had been dedicated to Paramount for six different films,” added Chong.
Directed by David L. Bushell, Cheech & Chong’s Final Film options conversations with the titular duo, reflecting on their decades-long friendship and success as a comedy duo that met working at Chong’s household strip membership in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1969.
After transferring to Los Angeles and releasing numerous comedy albums, the pair launched their first function Up in Smoke in 1978. The movie was adopted by Cheech and Chong’s Subsequent Film (1980), Good Goals (1981), Issues Are Robust All Over (1982), Nonetheless Smokin (1983) and Cheech & Chong’s The Corsican Brothers (1984).
Following the discharge of their 1985 album Get Out of My Room, Marin left the duo to concentrate on his solo appearing profession, starring in and making his directorial with Born in East L.A. (1987).
