Post mortem on the bloody mess that was 'Carrie'

Doug Ellin has bigscreen plans for his HBO show "Entourage." Off Broadway's MCC Theater trotted out the creatives and cast of the troupe's upcoming production of "Carrie," the musical version of the Stephen King tale that notoriously flopped on Broadway in 1988, in a sneak preview Monday that also served to tubthump for season subscriptions and kick off some buzz for the new staging. The evening, punctuated by a handful of tunes performed by an ensemble led by Marin Mazzie and Molly Ranson, offered a couple of insights into the thinking of the creative team, who reminisced about coming up with the project more than 20 years ago."It never occurred to any of us that this was not a genius idea," said book writer Lawrence D. Cohen, who also penned the screenplay for the 1976 pic."I always believed that if you put an unhinged woman onstage and give her a few good notes to sing, you're home free," added lyricist Dean Pitchford.The biggest laugh, however, may have come during the Q&A seg, when an audience member revealed she was involved in the show's Broadway preem. "I was one of the original dressers," she said. "I got a lot of overtime washing blood out of costumes." - -- Gordon CoxHow STRAINED is the relationship between Universal and Relativity? Apparently it's enough so that during the premiere of U's "The Change-Up" at the Village theater in Westwood on Monday night, no one clapped when co-financier Relativity's starry blue logo took shape on the bigscreen. Despite hearty hurrahs for every other credit -- from U's big bright globe right down to each individual executive producer -- the only sound to break the silence when Ryan Kavanaugh's company had its moment was a single whoop from somewhere near the back of the cavernous theater.As the final season of "Entourage" rolls out on HBO, there's already buzz about a jump to the bigscreen. At the Television Critics Assn. summer tour, executive producer Doug Ellin told the assembled reporters that "we're going to do a movie. It's just a question of when, and how quick." Of course they need a plotline to make that work. "Hopefully, we'll sit down and come up with an idea and make it happen." "Entourage's" Jeremy Piven has already moved on, starring in the bigscreen kids' pic "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D," but he insists he's not ready to leave superagent Ari Gold just yet."I don't want to be too greedy. I'm totally fulfilled with this experience and grateful and joyous and I'm embracing this transition," he said at the "Spy Kids" junket last the weekend. "But where (the series) ends, Ari is faced with this conundrum. It's totally satisfying. If we were to end there, it would be a really nice, beautiful ending. And if it was the beginning, I think it could also be a great beginning. I know that sounds very cryptic, but it's true. So, I feel like it's a great place to begin the movie!"What will be nice for Piven is to get back his rep as a reasonable man. "To be identified with someone who's the antithesis of your energy and where you come from, it's been a very interesting and surreal ride." - -- Jenny Peters Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com