Pioneering Comedians Cheech Marin & Tommy Chong Getting Their Own Biopic

Art will soon imitate Cheech Marin’s life…

The 76-year-old Chicano comedian, actor, musician and activist and his former comedy partner Tommy Chong, best known as Cheech & Chong, will be getting the big-screen treatment.

Cheech & Chong, Cheech Marin, Tommy ChongThe pioneering comedians, whose 1978 film Up in Smoke has transcended cult status, are partnering with Todd Lieberman’s Hidden Pictures, Underground and Five All in the Fifth Entertainment on a feature biopic about the comedy duo.

Cheech and Chong came to prominence in the ’70s and ’80s, becoming synonymous with stoner culture by riffing on and lifting up the counterculture of the time, from hippies to (of course) cannabis. Their combined output included successful stand-up shows, comedy albums and low-budget feature films, including Up in Smoke, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie (1980) and Nice Dreams (1981).

Kristian Mercado, who most recently made his feature debut with the 2023 South by Southwest entry If You Were Last, will direct from a screenplay by Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan.

Marin, who worked with Hidden Pictures for Shotgun Wedding, and Chong will executive produce along with David Glickman.

“We are excited to show the world how two dudes from completely different backgrounds got together, changed comedy and made cannabis mainstream!” said Marin and Chong.

Marin currently appears on the big screen in Champions. He also recently appeared on George Lopez’s new series Lopez vs Lopez.

Cheech Marin to Star in the Bobby Farrelly-Directed Film “Champions”

Cheech Marin is a champion

The 75-year-old Mexican American actor will lead Champions, a recently-wrapped film that Bobby Farrelly directed for Focus Features and Gold Circle Entertainment.

Cheech MarinMarin stars alongside Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson and Matt Cook.

Champions is based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film Campeones, which Universal Pictures International released in 2018.

It centers on a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach who is forced to coach a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.

Actors with intellectual disabilities rounding out the cast to ensure authenticity in the storytelling include Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens and Champ Pederson.

Mark Rizzo penned the script.

Focus Features will distribute the film domestically, with Universal Pictures handling its international release.

Marin is an actor and comedian who broke out in the ’70s, alongside Tommy Chong, as one half of the comedy duo Cheech & Chong. He’s appeared in such films as MachetePlanet TerrorGrindhouseTin CupFrom Dusk Till Dawn, DesperadoGhostbusters IIBorn in East L.A.After Hours and Up in Smoke, along with series including Elena of AvalorLodge 49 and Jane the Virgin.