The Wolfpack Returns

Photo courtesy of © 2013 Warner Bros.
Entertainment Inc. and Legendary Pictures

Zach Galifianakis and the crew return in The Hangover Part III.

THEY’RE BAAACK!

It started innocently with Alan (Zach Galifianakis) asking a simple—some would say “simpleminded”—question of a Caesars Palace desk clerk: “Did Caesar live here?”

We all know what happened next, and again in Thailand. Now, aiming to repeat the success of its first two installments, The Hangover franchise unveiled its third, and final, chapter this summer. The Hangover Part III brings the boys back to the place where it all began: Caesars Palace.

Just like in the original, the iconic hotel takes center stage in The Hangover Part III. The resort also served as the venue for the film’s promotional junket in May. “It needed to end where it began,” explains director Todd Phillips. “It had to end in Sin City because the movie is about these guys paying for the sins of the past. They have to settle that score.”

While in Las Vegas on the promotional tour, the film’s stars checked out Vegas Uncork’d at Caesars Palace’s Garden of the Gods, sampling fare by some of the city’s most celebrated chefs. Bradley Cooper, Heather Graham and Ken Jeong also took in Elton John’s “The Million Dollar Piano” show and dined at the new Nobu Caesars Palace.

With The Hangover stars now full-blown celebrities, you would think it would be difficult for them to navigate the casino during filming, or for recreational fun, without drawing a crowd. Not so, says Cooper. “This city is just indifferent to anything other than what it’s doing,” he says of filming Part III. “We were surprised just how different it was. In [The Hangover], we would walk into the elevator with tiger scratches on our neck, and no one would even blink. Even now, you could walk into a store and see Zach’s face on a T-shirt, or an impersonator outside and still, we could maneuver around unnoticed.”