Last week some quotes came out of a Cop Out roundtable interview where Kevin Smith talked about the notion of accepting money donated from fans to finance his movie Red State. Smith said that he would match donations based on the plan that had been considered so far (a point I think a lot of people missed) to bulk up the financing.
I thought the idea was interesting, though possibly so difficult to pull together from a legal perspective that it could never really work. Astoundingly, a lot of the other reactions to this idea were vehemently negative. There was a range of angry response, much of which boiled down to “how dare he ask for money?” based on the idea that Smith would get paid to make the film and would own the final product.
Smith was understandably less than happy with the negative reaction and has addressed the idea and the response to it in a blog post. Read More »
Kevin Smith has been talking about the film Red State for a couple of years now, and his description has been enough to keep the project high on fan wishlists. “It’s this weird fucking dark little seventies horror movie that nobody wants to make,” Smith says. Despite the difficulty in getting funds for the film, Smith is determined to make it, ideally after he knocks out his hockey film Hit Somebody. The financing problem persists, but a suggestion originally transmitted via Twitter could provide some of the answer: get fans to donate the money themselves. Read More »
It’s been two and a half years since Kevin Smith first mentioned plans of writing and directing a low budget horror movie. But is has been over a year since Red State was given a pass by The Weinstein Co. Havey Weinstein called the film “quite disturbing and challenging, a departure from” Smith’s previous screenplays. Smith has also said that the project is “decidedly non-commercial, it’s really f’n bleak and dark, so bleak that it makes The Dark Knight look like Strawberry Shortcake.” I’ve always assumed that this project would never get made… but today there is an update.
Smith is in London doing press for his new book Shooting the Sh*t with Kevin Smith: The Best Of Smodcast, and has revealed to DenOfGeek that he might have finally found funding for the horror film: “I got a call at 2am last night. I think we’ve got the money for Red State.” It isn’t clear if Red State will be his next project, or the recently buzzed about Hockey drama Hit Somebody. But one thing is for sure, there is now new hope for Smith’s horror film.
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Kevin Smith appeared on the Cinemablend podcast and listed off some of the reasons that studios might be afraid to greenlight his next film, Red State:
1. The Movie is ““decidedly non-commercial, it’s really fuckin bleak and dark, so bleak that it makes The Dark Knight look like Strawberry Shortcake.”
2. “There’s no character to root for.” … “It’s a series of insane, bad choices based on moral or immoral quandaries.”
3. “Everybody dies.”
4. “I do expect it to be a real film festival type film that will travel awhile.” … ” The only way it ever does business theatrically is if there’s like some kind of water cooler chat about it based on the festival showings.”
5. “They’re just like ‘there’s no audience for this movie.’ Like, nobody wants to see a movie this dark.”
“Based on all that nobody wants to write a check for it and I kind of get it. I’m not sitting here going ‘What? Why wouldn’t you want to finance a loser?’,” Smith says, later adding. “I’ve done comedy after comedy after comedy, and to do a movie that’s kind of 180 degrees away from that is, a test of sorts, where I get to see if I’m truly a filmmaker or just a dick and fart joke guy. No matter how it works out, I think I’d be content. Like, if it does work I’d be like ‘wow I know it! I am a filmmaker as well.’ If it doesn’t I’d just be like ‘alright I’m back to the dick and far joke salt mine.”
I’m interested to see what Smith can do with a completely different genre, and a totally unknown cast. I just hope he gets the chance and doesn’t feel the need to inject unneeded comedy and cameos to compensate for the nervous leap into the unknown. Hopefully the result will be more Drawing Flies than Vulgar.
Kevin Smith’s horror script Red State was given a pass by The Weinstein Co. The impression I have gotten so far is that Red State might be the type of horror film that Hollywood may be too afraid to make.
I remember a day when Harvey wasn’t ever afraid. But we now live in a post-Grindhouse world, where even Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez can’t guarantee an nontraditional film will make money. This is rather disappointing because it appears to be Smith’s most unique script yet (far away from his normal “dick and fart joke comedy”).
“It’s the first time Harvey and Bob have passed on anything I’ve wanted to do, but if they were gonna pass on anything, this’d be the one to do it on. The only explanation Michael gives me is ‘Harvey thought it was more of a Bob flick and then Bob didn’t get it. They’d rather just concentrate on ‘Zack and Miri’ at the moment, which we’re all pumped about.’”
“Naturally, this makes me wanna make “Red State” even more than I did just prior to that phone call. I get excited thinking about having to raise financing for our hot potato of a flick. This represents a turning point of sorts for Scott and I, inasmuch as everything (with the exception of Mallrats) has been made with the Weinsteins. It might be nice to see if we can get something done without them. Whether it’ll be nice or not, however, it’s what’s in the cards, as they don’t feel the flick is very commercial. And, in truth, on the surface, it may not be - unless we get the buzz I think we’ll get off the festival circuit. Regardless, it’s not something we’ll have to think about ’til after we’re done with Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”
Smith published Harvey’s initial e-mail response to the film in September, and it didn’t sound positive back then:
Dear Kevin,
I’ve been traveling back and forth between festivals so I’m sorry I have not been in touch. Your new script is quite disturbing and challenging, a departure from what I’m used to reading from you. I’d like my brother to take a look and get his thoughts.
All my best,
Harvey
Honestly, I think it would be interesting to see Kevin and Scott go back to their low budget indie roots and just make a film themselves. It seems like Smith initially wanted to take that approach with Clerks 2 (more of the low budget than the independently financed part), but in the end it didn’t make sense having all the cast and crew work for next to nothing on a sequel. Plus I think The Weinstein’s wanted a bigger name for the Becky role, which eventually went to Rosario Dawson.0 But looking back now, I can’t imagine the movie without Rosario.
On his popular podcast show, Smith has mused about independently financing a film through his friends on MySpace (seriously). He brought up the idea that the friends that invested would get points on the back end. Obviously this is a very unrealistic approach, and I’m sure with all the venture capital out there, Smith will find someone, if not another studio, to do his horror film.
It will be interesting to see how this develops. Obviously, Kevin and crew will be starting full time work on Zack and Miri soon, so this will be on the back burner until post production hits.
source: SilentBob
Since Kevin Smith has finished the first draft of his horror film Red State, he’s been talking about the film all over the view askew message boards. Like him, or hate him, one thing you must admire is how accessible Smith makes himself to his core group of fans, and how very honest he is about both his projects and his life.
We’ve spent some time and compiled all the information into an organized, readable, information filled transcript. We eordered the questions so that they now read like an interview, flowing from topic to topic. Smith talks about his writing process, how the film is more bleak than Requiem for a Dream (one of my favorite flicks), political themes, sharks, anticipating studio reluctance (might Bob and Harvey pass?), what he plans to do if that happens, and much more.
Question: From the time you sat down to write it, how long did it actually take you to finish?
Smith: I started writing on Saturday. Finished [Wednesday]. However, to be fair, I’ve had months to let it simmer and stew in my imagination before I started the actual script, so I wasn’t flying blind. I also spent about a week doing a twenty page outline that I then worked off of. But from the first “INT AIRPORT - DAY” to “THE END” was five days.
Question: Have you done that before, when it comes to writing? the “flying-blind” thing?
Smith: More often than not, I fly blindly into it. I rarely… rarely do an outline. But with “Red State”, I wanted to flesh it out a bit more in notes-form, rather than just let it all happen via dialogue. When I’m writing omething like “Chasing Amy” or “Clerks II”, the structure and story evolve from the conversation to conversation flow. Since there’s not a ton of conversation in this, I felt that going in with some semblance of a game-plan was in order.
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Kevin Smith has finished the first draft for his upcoming horror film, Red State. Not only is it done, but it’s the shortest script Smith has ever written, and contains the least amount of dialogue.
“Not to say there’s no dialogue; just that there’s about half as much as I normally write,” Smith revealed on his website viewaskew.com. “Unlike any other script I’ve ever authored, to say the least. Very fucked up. If I’d never said anything about it in the press and put it out under a pseudonym, I doubt anyone would ever connect me with it. Can’t wait to shoot it.”
I have a hard time classifying it as a “horror flick” because, while it shares some of the genre conventions, it’s just not what most would consider a horror flick. Horrific, yes, but not a horror flick in terms of the general definition. Let’s put it this way: if “Rosemary’s Baby” can be classified as a horror flick, then “Red State” can be as well.
Smith has yet to reveal any plot details or confirm any casting (heck, he just finished the script - did we really expect casting news this early in?) but NewsAskew reports that Clerks alumni Jeff Anderson and Jay Mewes are rumored to be on board. I’m pretty sure Smith dropped mention of Mewes casting in a Smodcast from a while back.
Clerks writer/director Kevin Smith has just finished writing his next comedy film.
“Finished a script a few minutes ago. The comedy. 146 pages. I’ll spend tomorrow taming it down to 120 pages or so. It’s really funny, really dirty, and really touching stuff. Granted, I’m biased. Now, onto Red State…” Smith wrote on his website. “Well, not now. First I’m gonna sleep. Then, I’ll take some down-time to work on this current bad boy before launching into the Red State script.”
Here is what we know thus far:
- Cast: Rosario Dawson in mind to star.
- Budget: More than Clerks II ($5 million) but less than Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back ($22 million).
- Shooting Location: Minnesota in Winter because the plot requires snow.
Smith has said that he would be shooting the comedy back-to-back with a horror film titled Red State, starting sometime this winter. From what we gather, Red State will be a lower budget ($3-4 million range) horror film about an religious extremist in Middle America.
Kevin Smith has finally spilled some details about his next project, a very different kind of horror movie.
“To me there’s all kinds of horror, and killing someone’s not the absolute worst thing you could do to another human being. The death in a horror movie has always been the money shot in a very exploitative manner. Stabbing somebody and splashing blood all over them is the equivalent to some dude exploding over some broad’s face,” Smith told Rotten Tomatoes.
Red State is a horror movie about an religious extremist, or so we assume.
“That dude has always fascinated me and he’s really informed the horror movie that I’m working on.”
Smith is referring to preacher Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. The group is famous for it’s “God hates fags” website and picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.
“The movie’s called ‘Red State’ and it’s very much about that subject matter, that point of view and that position taken to the absolute extreme. It’s certainly not Phelps himself but it’s very much inspired by a Phelps figure,” revealed Smith. “And to me, too, the notion of using a Phelps-like character as a villain, as horrifying and scary as that guy can be, there’s even something more insidious than him that lurks out there in as much as a public or a government that allows it and that’s the other thing that I’m trying to examine in a big, big way. It’s weird because for a few months I’ve been saying ‘horror movie’ and technically it is, but it’s also not a very traditional horror movie in the sense that people have been asking me, ‘Is it a slasher movie? Is it like the Japanese horror flicks?’ It’d be much easier to just show it to them when I’m done and be like, ‘This is what I meant.’ At which point I’m sure there’ll be people saying, ‘This ain’t a horror movie!’ But to me, it is.”
God knows, we need more horror movies that actually have ideas and aren’t just movie vehicles for the CW star of the week. Smith later wrote on his online website that Red in tht title also refers to BLOOD, an obvious connection which most people have missed. The Clerks director also confirms that the movie will be highly political. Smith plans on shooting Red State later this year in Middle America.
Photo Credit: Flickr
