CHATSWORTH, Calif. - "Deep Throat: The Play" is just one of many ventures on the way as a result of Arrow Productions' increasingly aggressive efforts to license its large library of classic adult titles.
Having already spawned a Deep Throat energy drink, a "Debbie Does Dallas" comic book and a line of movie posters, Arrow's licensing enterprise takes a giant leap forward with the new play, written by David Bertolino and opening in June at Boston's Wilbur Theater. And this is no "Debbie Does Dallas: the Musical."
"The 'Deep Throat' play is basically the Harry Reems story," Arrow director of marketing and licensing Robert Interlandi told AVN. "It goes through how he originally got into the movie, it has him in the movie, and then it also has him being prosecuted after the movie as the only adult star that was ever prosecuted for being in a movie. So it's his whole story of that whole ordeal."
In talks to play a current-day Reems is Richard Dreyfuss, with Thora Birch as Linda Lovelace, celebrated special effects artist Tom Savini as director Gerard Damiano, John Fiore (Gigi Cestone of "The Sopranos") as backer "Butchie" Peraino and Ron Jeremy as prosecuting attorney Larry Parrish.
Interlandi said that although Reems has distanced himself from the adult industry, he was ecstatic to learn there was interest in producing a play about his life, and was intimately involved in consulting its makers.
"He actually used to be in theater, like most of the original adult actors," said Interlandi. "And to hear that they wanted to do a play about his story, he was enthralled. So he laid down the whole story of his life, and talked about how Johnny Carson and Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson paid for his defense."
After playing in Boston, "Deep Throat the Play" will move to the World Theater in New York, the very first venue where Deep Throat the movie ran, with the same owners still in place.
Another project in development - about which Interlandi declined to comment because the contracts are still being reviewed by Arrow's attorneys, but which was reported in licensing industry trade publication Royaltie$ - is a Showtime reality program called "Deeper Throat."
And there are many other licensing plans in the works, with the next big title likely to receive similar treatment being Candy Stripers. Though he's not sure exactly what percentage of Arrow's business will eventually revolve around licensing, Interlandi said it is sure to be a very big chunk.
"The licensing industry is $180 billion a year," Interlandi said. "This is just the icing on top of whatever you can license, like apparel, comic books, movie posters, toys, all that.
"Now, the licensing industry is actually getting stale right now, with all the comic book characters and children's stuff," he continued. "It seems like it's all Pokémon and children's garbage, so I kind of came up at a really good point, where they're actually looking for new and different stuff to license. So we kind of fit right into it."
Licensing remains a largely untapped revenue channel for adult. But Arrow is paving the way to change that.
"Two years ago, I said, 'Yeah, I'm gonna get comic books and costumes and t-shirts and all this stuff,' and everyone thought I was smoking a crack pipe," Interlandi remarked. "You never know."
Casting is still being completed for "Deep Throat: The Play." It opens in Boston June 28, and moves to New York in September.
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