Kevin Smith combines two-part 'Hit Somebody' hockey flick
Like a trip aboard the Millennium Falcon, Kevin Smith’s upcoming hockey saga Hit Somebody is now a solo enterprise.
The Clerks and Chasing Amy filmmaker (who is known for far better Star Wars jokes) was planning to release the comedy as two back-to-back films, much like Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, but today announced via his Twitter feed that he’d rather keep it a stand-alone, epic-sized movie. “Writing script two, but now gonna make one big movie instead,” Smith wrote. “Makes more sense, anyway: the movie’s about taking one, good shot.”
Smith said he hoped to begin filming in June, and anticipated a 150 minute “max” running time. He wants to have a finished film ready for next year’s Sundance Film Festival, the place where he broke into Hollywood with his homemade Clerks in 1994.
Last year, Smith effectively announced he was breaking out of Hollywood at the same festival, following the debut of his offbeat action-horror film Red State. There, he revealed plans to self-distribute the movie, traveling to various cities to host live shows after the screenings. With merchandise and foreign sales, he announced in April he had surpassed the $4 million (after tax breaks) cost of the film.
Smith has also said Hit Somebody would be his last film, after which he would focus on becoming a kind of indie mogul by distributing other homegrown filmmakers. Hit Somebody is inspired by the late Warren Zevon’s song about a hockey goon named Buddy who’s no good at scoring goals, but great at beating the crap out of rival players.
On Twitter: @Breznican
