On Location: Piven brings his ‘Entourage’ movie crew to L.A.

Jeremy Piven and the cast of “Entourage” have reunited for a big-screen version of the long-running HBO series.

Warner Bros. Pictures, which is producing the movie with HBO Films, said principal photography on the film had begun in L.A. on Feb. 19.

The production will film over the next 35 days in various locations around the city, including the Warner Bros. lot and Hollywood.

ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll

Last week, the crew filmed at the Little Next Door restaurant on 3rd Street in West L.A. and at private homes in the West Hollywood and Hollywood Hills, according to film permits.

“Entourage” has been approved for a $5.8-million California film tax credit to offset $29 million in qualified expenditures, according to the California Film Commission.

Although the bulk of filming will occur locally, the project will also film on location in Miami.

Written and directed by series creator Doug Ellin, the big-screen version of the award-winning show stars Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven -- the super-agent turned studio head -- in their original roles, as well as Billy Bob Thornton and Haley Joel Osment as Larsen and Travis McCredle.

Debi Mazar, Rex Lee, Constance Zimmer, Nora Dunn and Emily Ratajkowski also have joined the cast, the studio said.

“Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often-cutthroat world of Hollywood,” Warner Bros. said

PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times

The studio will release “Entourage” in theaters on June 12, 2015. The film is produced by Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Doug Ellin, with Wayne Carmona serving as executive producer.

Another new project shooting locally is the untitled Warren Beatty film about tycoon Howard Hughes and an affair he had with a younger woman.

The production had permits to film for several days last week at a home in Hollywood Hills and Gardner Elementary School in West Hollywood.

The movie, from New Regency Pictures and RatPac Entertainment, stars Beatty, his wife, Annette Bening, Matthew Broderick and Lily Collins.

The new movie projects have contributed to a modest rise in location filming for low-budget features. Feature film activity is up 11% in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period a year ago, according to an L.A. Times analysis of data from FilmL.A. Inc.

Television production is down 16%, while commercial activity has declined 7% in the quarter, according to the film permit data, which are based on projects that shoot on city and county streets as well as non-certified stages.

ALSO:

Oscar night, no gala for film and TV workers

New Mexico to play ancient Egypt in ‘Heiroglyph’ TV series

‘Life After Pi’ documentary on fall of visual effects house to debut

Richard.verrier@latimes.com

Twitter: @rverrier