Born in East L.A. began as an unusually personal studio project. After Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong's 1985 song became a hit, Universal development executive Frank Price—who had previously worked with the comedy duo at Columbia Pictures—urged Marin to turn the parody into a feature. Price insisted that Marin make the film without Chong, reflecting the deterioration of their partnership, and Universal signed Marin to write, direct, and star in his first solo movie. But before production began, Price was fired after the disastrous performance of Howard the Duck, a failure for which he was blamed inside the studio. The executive who had championed Born in East L.A. was suddenly gone, leaving the project politically exposed at Universal.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1980s
The Howard the Duck Fallout That Nearly Buried Born in East L.A.
Born in East L.A. / Frank Price / 1980s
Born in East L.A. began as an unusually personal studio project. After Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong's 1985 song became a hit, Universal development executive Frank Price—who had previously worked with the comedy duo at Columbia Pictures—urged Marin to turn the parody into a feature. Price insisted that Marin make the film without Chong, reflecting the deterioration of their partnership, and Universal signed Marin to write, direct, and star in his first solo movie. But before production began, Price was fired after the disastrous performance of Howard the Duck, a failure for which he was blamed inside the studio. The executive who had championed Born in East L.A. was suddenly gone, leaving the project politically exposed at Universal.
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