- Hey, thanks for stopping by today. Busy times around here! With all of the discussion going on regarding the candidates for the lead in the Fletch Film (Won, One, whichever the studio is going with)…We thought that a great poll topic would ask viewers whom their favorites of the 5 candidates that Kevin mentioned might be. Thanks to DerekD for the suggestion there. Be sure and get your vote in!
Also, we can certainly understand the confusion and disappointment that some of you might feel that Jason Lee is not one of those choices. We all know that Kevin campaigned very hard to get Lee in that role, but we must all remember that in the end, not all decisions for the casting of a film lie with the directors (those of you watching this season’s “Project Greenlight” should relate to that all too well). A lot of times, it’s really just a matter of who the studio is comfortable getting behind. See below, as Kevin checks in with his side.
We’ve got lots more in the works, including another exciting contest announcement, more exclusive content, and some fantastic scoops, so don’t miss out — Things are really heating up around here these days. But don’t forget to get outisde, especially those of you here in the northeast with us…Summer’s flying by and that dreaded cold weather is going to come back again — At which point we’ll again question why the hell WE live in the northeast. Okey dokey then, let’s get on with today’s update!
Archive for August 14th, 2003
Kevin On Lee, Fletch Casting…
- We’re happy that it didn’t take long for Kevin to come out and explain a bit more about the casting process for Fletch, and the reasons that the project is continuing on, even without Jason Lee in the lead role. Here’s Kevin:
…Chevy is not the mark from which we must start. Go read the books: Fletch is not Chevy Chase.
Go read the books: there IS no slap stick.
See, the thing is, thanks to “SNL”, [Jimmy] Fallon’s got a rabid fan-following. His college gigs are big draws just like [Adam] Sandler’s were, prior to his breaking out in movies.
In Harvey’s perspective, Lee has been the star of movies that didn’t open, nor go on to earn very much. So, actually, to Harvey, the unproven Jimmy Fallon is potentially worth taking a risk on, as he hasn’t struck out yet.
If you read the book, Ben [Affleck]’s actually the closest to the character. Lee’s definitely closer if you were doing the Chevy version of Fletch, but Ben – the REAL Ben, not a Ben you’ve seen onscreen or on talk shows before – is closest to the book version of Fletch. And the book version is the Fletch we’re making.
I love Lee. I can’t imagine anyone would doubt that, even now. I fought for Lee, for almost three years now (Harvey bough the Fletch library for us the night of the first “Bounce” test screening, which was long before I even had a first draft of “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”). And recently, I had Harvey in the best bargaining position of my entire nearly-ten year career, at which time, I forced the Lee-as-Fletch issue once again. And even then, he was still resolute.
And I’d said before “If it’s not Lee, I’m not doing it.” Said that for at least a year, hoping to send Miramax a clear message. They got the message, alright – but rather than relenting and giving Lee the greenlight, they were just going to let the option on the books lapse. And I’m sorry – I don’t want to see someone else making a Fletch flick that yet again doesn’t resemble the character in the books that have been so influential on my writing. So I opted to stay with the flick, minus Lee.
What can I say? I took a swing. Shit, I took a lot of swings. Had Miramax agreed to Lee, this flick would’ve been made BEFORE “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” But it just wasn’t to be.
So you’ve got two choices: either grumble about the Lee-less Fletch movie we’re going to make from now until the end of time, or open yourself up to the idea that maybe – just maybe – our Fletch flick is gonna be good, regardless of who gets cast.
Go read the books: there IS no slap stick.
See, the thing is, thanks to “SNL”, [Jimmy] Fallon’s got a rabid fan-following. His college gigs are big draws just like [Adam] Sandler’s were, prior to his breaking out in movies.
In Harvey’s perspective, Lee has been the star of movies that didn’t open, nor go on to earn very much. So, actually, to Harvey, the unproven Jimmy Fallon is potentially worth taking a risk on, as he hasn’t struck out yet.
If you read the book, Ben [Affleck]’s actually the closest to the character. Lee’s definitely closer if you were doing the Chevy version of Fletch, but Ben – the REAL Ben, not a Ben you’ve seen onscreen or on talk shows before – is closest to the book version of Fletch. And the book version is the Fletch we’re making.
I love Lee. I can’t imagine anyone would doubt that, even now. I fought for Lee, for almost three years now (Harvey bough the Fletch library for us the night of the first “Bounce” test screening, which was long before I even had a first draft of “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”). And recently, I had Harvey in the best bargaining position of my entire nearly-ten year career, at which time, I forced the Lee-as-Fletch issue once again. And even then, he was still resolute.
And I’d said before “If it’s not Lee, I’m not doing it.” Said that for at least a year, hoping to send Miramax a clear message. They got the message, alright – but rather than relenting and giving Lee the greenlight, they were just going to let the option on the books lapse. And I’m sorry – I don’t want to see someone else making a Fletch flick that yet again doesn’t resemble the character in the books that have been so influential on my writing. So I opted to stay with the flick, minus Lee.
What can I say? I took a swing. Shit, I took a lot of swings. Had Miramax agreed to Lee, this flick would’ve been made BEFORE “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” But it just wasn’t to be.
So you’ve got two choices: either grumble about the Lee-less Fletch movie we’re going to make from now until the end of time, or open yourself up to the idea that maybe – just maybe – our Fletch flick is gonna be good, regardless of who gets cast.
B&W Jay/Bob At The Stash…
- The 3 exclusive runs of Clerks Inaction figures have finished with the Chicago Wizard World, and now, all of those figures (except the sold out B&W Dante figures) are now available at the Stash for a limited time. For the first, time, you can now order B&W Jay & Silent Bob for $15 each. Fanboy & Steve-Dave are also still available in limited quantity, as well as the Black and White Randal. Once these figures are gone, they’re GONE — Don’t pay those crazy eBay prices, get them direct from the source. We expect they’ll all sell out rather quickly, and don’t forget, Fanboy & Steve-Dave, even though they are in color, will NOT be released with Mallrats Wave 2 in October. So, if you truly want a complete Mallrats set, getting them now is the only way to do that.
View Askew NewsBites™
- Jeanette Walls again discusses Gigli and Jersey Girl in
her MSNBC column, this time summarizing Kevin’s attack on the New York Times:
“Jersey Girl” director Kevin Smith is going after the New York Times. In the wake of the “Gigli” fiasco, the paper ran an article saying that Jennifer Lopez’s role in “Jersey Girl” is being minimized. On his web site, under the headline, “Come Back, Jayson Blair! All is Forgiven!” Smith gives a lengthy, rant-filled, point-by-point rebuttal to the Times piece. “Believe it or not, I’m not a crybaby in real life,” Smith writes. “But if you don’t try to correct s—t like this right away, fiction becomes fact faster than a ‘Gigli’ box office run.” A Times spokesman says its reporter merely “paraphrased statements Mr. Smith made.”
Also, if you’ve been following this story, you know Affleck went on the Tonight Show with Leno earlier this week to joke around about Gigli’s reviews, and also, in this NY Daily News article, (spoiler warning in that piece) admits Gigli’s faults but highly praises Jersey Girl:
Affleck said he expects better reviews for “Jersey Girl,” an upcoming Miramax film that pairs him with Lopez, because “I think ‘Jersey Girl’ is a really good movie.”
- Seems that humorist Andy Borowitz has found this whole Gigli/Jersey Girl fiasco fun enough to parody in an article that he titles “J. Lo out, Nemo in for Affleck’s new film” . Cruel, but fun.
- This article on Wizard World Chicago features a bit of Kevin’s
Q&A hijinx:
- Kevin Smith may be Hollywood’s biggest fanboy, but he’s no fan of Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. “Pizza is meant to be flat,” he complained during his Q&A panel about the Windy City’s legendary thick dish. “What’s this? That’s quiche.”
- Smith got a big laugh during the session when a local film student criticized his last movie, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” After the crowd booed the guy mercilessly, Smith quipped: “Man, that’s not the smartest move, to come to this panel and say, “Fuck ‘Jay and Silent Bob.’”
- The trailer for the John Woo-directed, Ben Affleck-starring “Paycheck” is now available at the Apple site.
- Yes, the stink-palm spans oceans and crosses borders. Last week, UK Radio One DJ Colin Murray had his co-host and listeners guessing which prominant public figure he had done the deed to. He name-checked Kevin, Jason Lee and Mallrats on a number of occasions, before finalyl revealing that the unlucky individual was Brtish PM Tony Blair. We can’t help but think Blair won’t be a guest on Murray’s show anytime soon.
- From reading this story from Ananova, it sounds like church policy might be imitating Dogma policy a bit in order to help raise their numbers. Cardinal Glick would be proud.
- Here’s a couple more View Askew mentions in web comics: First off, Kevin’s delay on the Black Cat series gets a very obscure nod in web comic Spudmonkey, and apparently, one of the charcters of “Sub Basement” wasn’t too thrilled with his Red Bank trek.
- Finally today, thanks to Sam Baron for sending us a screenshot of a very unique hit count that he managed to score this week: 12345678! Very nice work, Sam.