There’s an age-old formula in Hollywood called the “one for me, one for them,” which basically describes how filmmakers and actors subscribe to this theory that in order to keep themselves and the machine running. You make one film in which you bend slightly in the wind towards the needs of a studio and their target audience, and in the next project, you bend more towards the need of your creative appetite (ex: Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park 1993, Schindler’s List 1993, The Lost World 1997, Amistad 1997).
Kevin Smith is not really following that formula — he’s doing films that he likes and he has no interest in changing the terms of his creative agreement with himself.
Tusk — Smith’s latest film that comes to DVD/Blu-ray on December 30th — was divisive among audiences and critics alike, but that doesn’t mean that the movie was not a “hit” for Kevin Smith. It wasn’t a “hit” in terms of box-office success, but if you were to factor in the freedom and sense of merriment Smith is currently enjoying in this stage of his career, then Tusk was a grand slam. (An aside: I’m not a rabid Kevin Smith fan, but Red State made me believe that when at the top of his game, he can be a phenomenal cinematic storyteller.)
In Smodcast episode 309, Smith talked extensively about how all the doors to the filmmaking mansion of his dreams are opening because of the relationships he created while making Tusk, and now, in an interview with /Film, Smith went into greater detail on the projects that we’ll soon be able to enjoy in the next several years. If Smith has it his way, we’ll be experiencing his most productive period as a filmmaker, starting now.
Yoga Hosers
What it’s about: This Tusk spin-off — and second film in The True North Trilogy — features man-child Haley Joel Osment, the gorgeous Genesis Rodriguez, Johnny Depp, Stan Lee (!), Justin Long, Smith’s Hollywood Babble-On partner Ralph Garman, and Depp’s and Smith’s daughters, in a story about two teenage girls who have to fend off monsters that are in danger of ruining their plans for getting turnt up.
When can we expect it: It’s wrapping its final stages of filming now, so Summer 2015 should bring us Depp in a film that will hopefully be more enjoyable than his last several outings.
What Kevin Smith had to say about it:
…the Yoga Hosers thing came together in post on Tusk and again, it came together very quickly. And when I reached out to Demarest and said, ‘Hey, man, I wanna make this Yoga Hosers movie, do you wanna go?’ They were like ‘We won’t be ready by the end of the year. We’re gonna have to wait till middle of next year.’ But again, I had a window. So I was like well, ‘Do you mind if I go finance someplace else?’ And they’re like ‘Yeah, totally, go ahead.’ And so Star Stream, I reached out to them and said, ‘I know we’re about to do this Krampus thing, but there’s this movie that kind of came out of nowhere and I wrote it, but I think we can pull it off since it’s not that expensive’ and blah, blah, blah. And it’s about two 15 year old girls. And that was the magic right there, man. Because they were like ‘You’re making a movie for an audience that voraciously goes to the movies? Like that’s really good.’ So they jumped on board with Yoga Hosers and we put Krampus on the back burner.
Clerks III
What it’s about: Well, it’s obviously the third film in Smith’s series that launched his career.
When can we expect it: It’s Smith’s next film after Hosers, and will likely start shooting early 2015, leaving Fall/Winter 2015 as a likely candidate for release.
What Kevin Smith had to say about it:
While working on Yoga Hosers, Clerks III came up and Kim was like ‘Let me read that script.’ And suddenly she was like ‘Oh my God, we’re making this movie. Why didn’t you tell me about it sooner?’ I was like ‘Ah, we were working on this other thing.’ So boom, Clerks III was suddenly happened.
Moose Jaws
What it’s about: The final film in The True North Trilogy is basically like Jaws, but with more Moose.
When can we expect it: Smith will likely try to squeeze in the production of Moose Jaws after Clerks III and before Hit Somebody. So, I’m going with early Spring 2016 for a release date.
What Kevin Smith had to say about it:
Moose Jaws has already been pre-approved and we got our money for Moose Jaws. So once again, like Tusk just keeps it going.
Hit Somebody
What it’s about: It’s Smith’s long-gestating hockey epic that he considered making into a series of films and even a TV mini-series.
When can we expect it: He confirmed that he’ll be shooting next fall, so don’t expect this one until late 2016 or early 2017.
What Kevin Smith had to say about it:
So we were having this conversation about fake Canada that I keep setting the movies in now for this True North Trilogy. And Kim, her former boss, he used to work tangentially in the world of the NHL (National Hockey League). Howard Baldwin I believe was her former boss. So, you know, she knows a lot about the world of hockey, particularly the WHA (World Hockey Association). And I was like ‘Oh my Lord, I have written this mini-series that we were planning to do with CBC up in Canada. That, you know, I’ve been sitting on for a while.’ I said, ‘You would love to read it, just because it’s set in the world that you know very well.’ And then when I was all over, she was like ‘Wow, we’re making this right now.’ And so we have two meetings and we met with our Canadian counterparts, ’cause we’re gonna shoot up a lot of it up North and then some of it in Michigan as well. But we were able to kind of pull the budget together. So in the fall of 2015, we head up to it looks like Northern Ontario and start shooting Hit Somebody.
As for Krampus/Anti-Claus, and Helena Handbag, those seem to be up in the air for now (Krampus is according to Smith on “the back burner”), and it’s likely that Smith will be retooling the cast and script for these films as they come closer to reality. Who knows what’s going to happen, because Kevin Smith seems to be taking it day-by-day right now, and that’s just fine with him.
