If Kevin Smith and Jay Z have anything in common, it’s that they have a very loose interpretation of the word “retirement.” If you recall, the filmmaker who once flirted with packing it all in following “Red State,” has done anything but. While it looks like his once-mooted hockey epic “Hit Somebody” is sitting on the backburner somewhere, he’s already wrapped on his next flick, the horror “Tusk,” and it seems that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The filmmaker hit Facebook yesterday and shared with his followers where we’ll see the man in 2014, and he’s got some big plans. First up, Smith says “Tusk” will get a fall release via distributors A24 who picked up the movie not long ago, and if that seems far off for the director who is working at a quick clip these days, he’s got some ambitions. Posting a picture on Facebook yesterday of his honors in the past from the Croisette, Smith teased, “These are my 3 Cannes Film Festival certificates for ‘Clerks,’ ‘Dogma‘ and ‘Clerks II.’ Hoping to add one more this spring…” Indeed, Cannes likes to welcome returning filmmakers, so could Smith’s “Tusk” make its premiere there? Don’t rule it out.
And if that happens, it’ll mean a busy month for the filmmaker. The director says the much talked about “Clerks 3” is now aiming to shoot in May, but as always, take it with a grain of salt. Last we heard from Smith, he wanted to make it this past fall with a Sundance premiere in January, but was waiting on a greenlight from the Weinsteins, which we presume is still the case. So in short, we’ll see.
Meanwhile, Smith is continuing to create more options for himself following his “new mantra in regards to filmmaking: from now until I drop dead, I’m only ever gonna make a flick that only I would/could ever make.” He’s currently writing a screenplay based on the SModcast episode, “The (C)rapture” (listen here) entitled “Helena Handbag,” and we’ll just Smith explain it:
…this time the plot of the movie concerns mankind teaming up with Hell to save existence from extinction at the hands of a Rapturing giant Jesus – which means the budget has to be LOW, because NOBODY’S gonna wanna make that movie. At all. And I know this going in, so I won’t be heartbroken if it never goes beyond the script. But… if the script is funny enough? Who knows? That walrus movie seemed pretty daffy and far-fetched until we were standing on the TUSK set bringing that shit to life four months and change after first making it up in episode 259 of SModcast. And right now, the aim is to shoot CLERKS III this May – so this HELENA HANDBAG picture would still be a ways off anyway.
…I’m going with the title HELENA HANDBAG – which comes directly from the plot of the flick (it’s kind of a nod to David Lynch’s unproduced ONE SALIVA BUBBLE screenplay, too – which was also about the end of the world and also carried a title that didn’t really prepare you for what the movie was about).
So there you go. And clearly, we’ll be hearing a lot more from Smith in the New Year.
