The second life The Big Lebowski’s had since its release in 1998 is really quite remarkable, if you think about it.
There’s the Big Lebowski Fests every year, and the whole Lebowski gang, Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, recently had a big reunion at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York to coincide with the film’s Blu-Ray release. Actually the whole gang was there except for the Coen Brothers.
As MTV joked, “The room really did tie the room together,” and of course, Jeff Bridges got a long “Duuuuuuuude” when he hit the stage.
As Time reports, Buscemi initially didn’t want to play the role, but when he got the end of the script, he felt Walter and Donny were like Gilligan and The Skipper. Turturro also thought his role of the Jesus was very small, but the Coens convinced him he could do something with it.
As for where the Lebowski gang would be today, Goodman said Walter would try “to join the Foreign Legion but they made him work on Shaboos…now he raises pigeons,” and Bridges said the Dude would be “giving massages. He’s become a masseuse… and he really enjoys that.”
The news also broke that The Big Lebowski will be the first movie Universal is putting up to show on Facebook, and as Deadline reports, you’ll be able to watch it through their “Social Theater” app, and you can watch and interact with the movie for 30 Facebook credits, or $3 for 48 hours.
Forbes also reported that there’s also a new book out called The Abide Guide, Living Like Lebowski, “by the founders of the Church of the Latter-Day Dude,” Oliver Benjamine and Dwayne Eutsey.
Well, you’ve read our coverage here on TG about The Dude’s cardigan sweater going up for auction. Clearly, the lucky Lebowski fan who could afford the $8,000 opening bid had to go home disappointed, there was some confusion as to how much the auctioned sweater was actually used in the movie.
But if you’re a Big Lebowski fan with big bucks, you can buy the house from the film for only $2.3 million, which the Dude couldn’t have afforded in a million years. (Remember the joke about how he needed to call his accountant because $20,000 put him in a higher tax bracket? I think you can get that line as a ringtone…)
Lebowski fans probably know all the details about the house, but for those that aren’t Lebowski inclined, it’s a Venice Beach bungalow, part of six one-bedroom bungalows on the property.
As a report on New York Magazine’s website tells us, it has “spacious side-yards and a lushly landscaped gated courtyard.”
That’s what’s officially billed for the property, but as this story made its way through the net, the jokes from Lebowski fans kept rolling in.
The AVClub wrote that for the $2.3 million price, “You not only get a rentable property with a major piece of film history, plus constant visits from tourists stopping by to take pictures on your porch then knock on the door and ask if The Dude is home and if so can they pee on his rug.”
AVCLub readers then put in such comments as, “This is not ‘Nam-this is real estate. There are rules.”
L.A. Weekly also headlined their report, “The Dude’s Abode.” Realtor Winston Cenac told the publication: “It’s a gorgeous little compound. Some of the tenants are decorators, so on the inside, the units just look primo.”
Still, you obviously can’t afford this beautiful home, and really, who can with today’s economy? To quote the movie, “Ah f*ck it dude, let’s go bowling.”
