John Goodman has joined Kevin Smith’s horror flick of sorts, “Red State.”
Goodman rounds out an already extensive cast that includes Kevin Pollack, Michael Parks, Kyle Gallner, Melissa Leo, Dermot Mulroney, Michael Angarano and Steven Root. Earlier in the year Smith said he would be casting “recognizable unknowns” and he seems to be keeping to that plan. The casting also marks a reunion of sorts for Goodman and Leo, who made a powerful pair on the first season of “Treme.”
The logline of the film — A group of kids encounters a crazed preacher (based on Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church) who gives a whole new meaning to the term “extreme fundamentalism” — is promising and at least it will find Smith challenging his skills in a new genre, and hopefully reversing the rut of mediocrity that has marked his last few films.
Production is set to begin tomorrow.