Writer Tucker Max aims for more fame with ‘Beer’ movie

Writer Tucker Max didn’t go the typical route when developing his book, “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell,” into a motion picture.

“There’s two different ways to make a movie,” Max said in a recent phone interview. “You can go through the normal studio system … or you can raise the money yourself, and make the movie yourself.”

Max, with his writing partner Nils Parker, decided to independently finance the film.

“We decided we wanted to maintain creative control,” Max said.

Max, whose Web site and book detail his activities, primarily involving drunkenness and loutishness, hopes having a film based on his work makes him an even more widely known commodity.

“Right now, the book is a cult hit, and I’m kind of a cult celebrity,” Max said. “What I hope the movie does is it kind of pushes me into the mainstream.”

Matt Czuchry (“Gilmore Girls”) brings Tucker Max to life in the film.

“We went through maybe 200 actors before we found one that we really thought could do it,” Max said. “He’s maybe even a better me than me in a lot of ways.”

Max was in Norman for a screening of his film prior to the official opening.

“I have cousins from Oklahoma, so I’ve been many times,” Max said. “Oklahoma is what it is, you know. I’m from Kentucky, so I can’t really make fun of a state that’s just as redneck and backward as where I’m from.”