Cheech & Chong Origin Film in the Works

Todd Lieberman's Hidden Pictures has acquired the highly anticipated Untitled Cheech & Chong Project, joining forces with Underground, Five All in the Fifth Entertainment, and duo Cheech & Chong on the upcoming feature film. Written by Danya Jiminez ("Ren & Stimpy") and Hannah McMechan ("Ren & Stimpy"), the project is a never-before-seen look into the origin of the iconic comedy duo. Kristian Mercado (If You Were the Last, Michael Che: Shame the Devil) to direct.

The Untitled Cheech & Chong Project will be a look at the origin of this iconic comedy duo, and how they both came together to change comedy and stoner culture forever.

Oscar and Emmy-winning producer Todd 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.

The project is executive produced by Cheech & Chong along with David Glickman. Lieberman and Young recently worked with Cheech Marin on the Amazon hit movie Shotgun Wedding starring Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel.

"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.

"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."

The Untitled Cheech & Chong Project will be written by Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan. The duo are currently writing K-Pop Demon Hunters for Sony Pictures Animation, and are also developing their feature Luna Likes with MACRO after it was featured on The Black List's inaugural Latinx List. On the television side, they were most recently writers on the reboot of "Ren & Stimpy" for Comedy Central.

Most recently, Kris Mercado's debut feature If You Were The Last premiered at SXSW 2023 to glowing reviews. This film was produced by Depth of Field and Fourward, with Anthony Mackie and Zoe Chao in the starring roles. Kris has directed comedy specials for Michael Che, Taylor Tomlinson, Hannibal Burress, Ilana Glazer, and Sam Jay. The Hannibal Buress special: Miami Nights , was a 2020 SXSW official selection, as was Colors, a music video for Grammy nominated artist Black Pumas also directed by Kris.

Kris' music-driven short film Pa'lante won the SXSW Jury Award in 2019 and Kris won the award at SLAMDANCE 2020 for screenwriting. His screenplay Mela has just received a Cinereach grant. Rodney Rothman and Modern Magic are producing the feature adaptation of Kris's short Nuevo Rico for Illumination. On the television side, he is co-writing & producing an animated reboot of the Aeon Flux property for Paramount+.

Jimenez and McMechan are represented by Verve, Mosaic and Brecheen Feldman Breimer Silver & Thompson. Mercado is represented by UTA, Redefine Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham LLP.

Photo by Ron Eshel/Invision/AP