AlthoughCheech MarinandTommy Chonghave long been subculture icons, the earnings from their breakout film almost immediately wentup in smoke.
The movie comes out, and its a giant hit, said Chong in the documentary.
Nobody thought Up in Smoke was going to do anything but [be] a bust.
Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin in ‘Up in Smoke’ (1978)Courtesy Everett Collection
And all the time we shot Up in Smoke, we stopped touring on the road.
We had no income.
We started looking very closely at the contract that we had signed with our lawyer.
Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin in ‘Cheech and Chong‘s Last Movie’ (2024) (Keep Smokin’/Courtesy Everett Collection)
That was a huge horrible deal for us.
Chong clarified, Twenty-five thousand each.
And we were committed to Paramount for six other movies, added Chong.
