After the horrendous misfire known as Cop Out, it looks like Kevin Smith is getting back to what he does best; directing his own scripts. Instead of Hit Somebody, the hockey comedy he recently shopped around, it will be the horror film Red State as he exclaims on Twitter:
First draft was dated 9/5/07. Looks like we start shooting this July. Took nearly three years, but we’re finally gonna roll on RED.
He also admits that “copping out” to do a studio job helped:
It’s just time, is all. Happily, Cop Out helped on lots of levels.
Red State is a dark and unconventional horror film about a religious fundamentalism. Check out his quote from way back in 2007 regarding the film:
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.
Kevin Smith fans can stay happy, he is currently writing Hit Somebody and it will film directly after Red State. I’m glad he is going back to his own scripts and looking forward to see an nontraditional horror film from Smith.
Are you happy Red State is going into production or are you turned off from Smith after Cop Out?