If you happened to take in “Entourage’’ this past weekend and thought you may have spotted Eli Manning at the movie theater, think again. The Giants quarterback will not be seeing the flick.
“I don’t think I’ll see it,’’ Manning said Monday afternoon after an organized team activity practice. “I’ll pass.’’
Manning was nearly involved in the HBO show, and therein lies the bad blood directed toward him by Doug Ellin, the creator of the “Entourage’’ HBO series. Ellin, a Giants fan, said recently that Manning personally reached out to him to say he wanted to appear on the show. Ellin, thrilled, took Manning up on the suggestion and said he wrote a scene for Manning into a script.
That’s when things went awry.
“One of the great tragedies was Eli Manning bailing on me,’’ Ellin said during an episode of “In Depth with Graham Bensinger.’’
Ellin accused Manning of dodging him, saying he could not get in touch with Manning about appearing on the TV show.
“I was going crazy,’’ Ellin said. “Beyond frustrating.’’
At the last minute, Ellin subbed Tom Brady for Manning. Ellin said Brady was “just awesome.”
“He was easy to work with and was happy to be there. We called him for the movie and he showed up the same way.’’
Ellin said he eventually heard from Manning’s agent that Manning wanted to focus on football.
“I went kind of crazy,’’ Ellin said, “and I said ‘No, I don’t understand.’ He works hard, I work yard. I didn’t call him. He called me.’’
Clearly, Manning has another side to tell, but he did not want to get into it.
“I don’t, whatever, I don’t want to give it any more press than there already has been,’’ Manning said. “It doesn’t bother me. Whatever.’’
Ellin hasn’t forgotten, saying, “I love the Giants so much, but if Russell Wilson was the quarterback of the Giants, I would be a much happier person.’’
Perhaps Manning will be heartened to know that “Entourage’’ received mixed reviews and its first weekend $10.4 million box office take finished fourth, behind “Spy,’’ “Insidious: Chapter 3’’ and “San Andreas.’’