The legendary career of drag racing rivals Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen is expected to be on the big-screen for the world to see sometime in 2013.

Rhino Films and Storywise Productions, have acquired life-story rights from the legendary drag racing rivals. They also have partnered with the NHRA to produce a motion picture about Prudhomme and McEwen’s revolutionizing one of the world’s most exhilarating sports on and off the track.

The movie will be produced by Stephen Nemeth of Rhino Films and Robin Broidy of Storywise Productions, and the executive producer is Leslie Castanuela Barnes, Broidy’s business partner. The screenwriter is Alan Paradise, and the movie also will be co-produced by Charlie Katz, Eddie Michaels and Betsy Stahl. Prudhomme and McEwen will also serve as producers.

Unknowingly, the Prudhomme-McEwen movie was born out of Paradise originally planning to write a documentary celebrating the 35th anniversary of their historic partnership with Hot Wheels in 1970.

“Five, six years ago was the 35th anniversary of the Hot Wheels, Mongoose and Snake partnership,” said Paradise, a longtime automotive industry journalist and broadcast producer. “I was asked by Mattel to write a short documentary on the guys. From there, once that happened, Don and Tom pursued me about writing a book about them. As I did hundreds and hundreds of hours of interviews, I kept looking at this as a very, very cinematic story. We know Snake and Mongoose from their match racing. Their popularity was so amazing, and we all know that, but what we do not know is what drove these two men to do what they did and the friendship they had. They were not only rivals on the track, but they were also kind of like brothers. They had times when they loved being around each other and were great friends and they had times when they would not speak to each other for months on end even though they were racing each other. Then, there are some other extraordinary portions of their lives that are intertwined that I didn’t find out until I had all these interviews with them.”

The legendary career of drag racing rivals Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen is expected to be on the big-screen for the world to see sometime in 2013.

Rhino Films and Storywise Productions, have acquired life-story rights from the legendary drag racing rivals. They also have partnered with the NHRA to produce a motion picture about Prudhomme and McEwen’s revolutionizing one of the world’s most exhilarating sports on and off the track.

The movie will be produced by Stephen Nemeth of Rhino Films and Robin Broidy of Storywise Productions, and the executive producer is Leslie Castanuela Barnes, Broidy’s business partner. The screenwriter is Alan Paradise, and the movie also will be co-produced by Charlie Katz, Eddie Michaels and Betsy Stahl. Prudhomme and McEwen will also serve as producers.

Unknowingly, the Prudhomme-McEwen movie was born out of Paradise originally planning to write a documentary celebrating the 35th anniversary of their historic partnership with Hot Wheels in 1970.

“Five, six years ago was the 35th anniversary of the Hot Wheels, Mongoose and Snake partnership,” said Paradise, a longtime automotive industry journalist and broadcast producer. “I was asked by Mattel to write a short documentary on the guys. From there, once that happened, Don and Tom pursued me about writing a book about them. As I did hundreds and hundreds of hours of interviews, I kept looking at this as a very, very cinematic story. We know Snake and Mongoose from their match racing. Their popularity was so amazing, and we all know that, but what we do not know is what drove these two men to do what they did and the friendship they had. They were not only rivals on the track, but they were also kind of like brothers. They had times when they loved being around each other and were great friends and they had times when they would not speak to each other for months on end even though they were racing each other. Then, there are some other extraordinary portions of their lives that are intertwined that I didn’t find out until I had all these interviews with them.”

Broidy found the Prudhomme and McEwen’s story compelling.

“These guys were extraordinarily brave and they had tons of heart and they did some interesting and extraordinary things to get to where they were,” Broidy said. “These guys were thoughtful and curious and they were coming up with stuff all the time with all these variables and it was fascinating to me. An entire new generation who does not know who these guys are is going to learn who these guys are. We are all just going to go back and live these glory days of drag racing.”

When Paradise began interviewing Prudhomme and McEwen, he was well aware of their iconic statures.

“They helped make drag racing what it is,” Paradise said. “They helped make motorsports what it is. When they brought Mattel into the game, and then Coca-Cola followed, and then with the other teams we started seeing Revel, Wonder Bread, and all the non-automotive sponsors that came into motorsports. They didn’t come in through the NASCAR door, they came in through drag racing and these guys (Prudhomme and McEwen) started it. NASCAR wouldn’t be what it is today if it had not been for what Prudhomme and McEwen were doing in drag racing. Mattel should also be given a lot of credit for being visionary about it as well.”

According to Paradise, the movie shows the growth of Prudhomme and McEwen from “before there was a Snake and before there was a Mongoose.”
“What I think is very exciting about the film is you see the development of the two characters and two people from the early 60s to the late 70s,” Paradise said. “They went from just at the edge of manhood to superstar status. We (also) see the development of the sport from before there where Funny Cars to the development of Funny Cars we loved.”

After spending days and countless hours with Prudhomme and McEwen, Paradise was left with quite the impressions.

“Don Prudhomme is probably one of the smartest men I have ever met,” Paradise said. “He is such a quick study. What he doesn’t know, he will find out. He is incredibly smart. Tom McEwen is probably one of the most genuine human beings I have ever met. He is just the nicest, most approachable guy who truly cares about people. I’m remarkably honored that those two (Prudhomme and McEwen) entrusted me with this story. People are really going to enjoy the drag racing (in the movie), but I think what they are really going to take away from the story is how remarkable these two individuals were as individuals and as a team. They could stand alone, but together they were an unstoppable force. What they brought to sports was amazing and they did it under some conditions that most people do not even realize what they had to deal with. I think people will embrace these two guys (Prudhomme and McEwen) even more once they see the film and once they get more of the back story behind them.”

Paradise also believes this movie will offer a trip down a drag racing memory lane in a time and place where drag racing was quite different that it is today.

“What you are going to see on the 40-foot screen is a time in racing that is passed,” Paradise said. “Match racing doesn’t exist anymore and that is kind of sad. Nicknames alone do not really exist anymore. Back then, particularly in Funny Car racing, every one of the drivers had a nickname. Most of that came from the fact that there was a Snake and a Mongoose. Without that, there would not have been Snowman or a Jungle Jim or a Bounty Hunter or anything else. That era is gone and that’s sad. I would love to see it come back. That was really a special time when you could really identify with your driver and you could really identify with your brand. Just the emotional value of seeing that all play out is going to be special.”