Last we heard from Kevin Smith, he was just getting over his weightgate Southwest Air scandal and then alienating all his fanboy devotees by suggesting that press screenings for his films should be disallowed because critics had essentially roasted his disastrous new picture, “Cop Out” (the same critics who had basically given him a career with “Clerks” back in the day).
All and all, February 2010 was a pretty bad month for Smith — he also tested patience by suggesting a fan-financing plan to sire his dream project “Red State” via a donation website of some kind — and he may or may not have learned that Twitter might not be his best outlet when promoting a movie (that month he was so insufferable, we basically unfollowed and ahhhh’d at the sense of peace and quiet).
During that month he also started discussing future projects, which of course include the aforementioned political horror and his “Slapshot”-esque hockey comedy, “Hit Somebody,” possibly starring Sean William Scott. Back then he said “Red State” would shoot this July and much to our surprise — since he’s been discussing this film for what seems like forever — it sounds like he’s basically on track give or take 30 days.
“Red State is what we’re shooting in August,” he told E!online noting like he did over a year ago that he still wants to cast unknown actors. “It’s a political horror movie, essentially. We’re still casting right now, but I don’t want to cast anybody that anybody knows because that takes you right out of the flick. The idea is what’s going to sell the movie.”
Smith talked about this project for so long we never really had any confidence we’d ever see it, but according to this interview, it’s basically a month and some away from shooting. We’ll still believe it when we see it, but hell, it might be a nice change of pace, given that comedy is a territory that Smith has pretty much exhausted at this point. “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” was one of his sweeter, more tolerable films, but possibly “Cop Out” illustrated that a change should be in order.