The original “Sundance” version of Clerks that will be included as part of the 10th Anniversary DVD set has been transferred directly from video (which is how the movie was shopped around for prospective distributors before Miramax picked it up) so it won’t look or sound as good as the theatrical version (which of course will also be included).

Part of Kevin’s decision to no longer direct Green Hornet was also influenced by Scott Mosier bowing out of his producer role for that film.

There are currently no plans to cast Affleck in the upcoming “small project” (and it has been written with certain “familiar” people in mind).

He can’t disclose the details of his secret project at Marvel but it will be an older character that he’ll be working on. However he won’t actually start this new project until his Daredevil/Bullseye and Spider-Man/Black Cat mini series’ are finished.

Finally not really news – but Kevin officially does the best British accent ever (if any readers ever get the chance they should ask him to do his Ben Kingsley in “Sexy Beast” impression)!

Empire spent yesterday evening with Kevin Smith, who conclusively proved that he is no Silent Bob by talking for four hours and twenty minutes without a break. Arena, one of our sister magazines for which Smith is a regular columnist, brought the director over for his first European date after a barnstorming series of talks in the States. While we were laughing too hard to remember everything he said, a few things did sink in – most notably that he may not direct The Green Hornet.

Asked whether he was worried about taking on the cult comic given that he is on record as saying that he cannot direct action, Smith dropped something of a bombshell on fans anxiously waiting for his take on the material. “I think the way around it is just not to direct it because otherwise I’m going to have to recant, and fuck that! Honestly, I signed on to Green Hornet to write and direct it at a time where I don’t know what I was thinking. I was just like, “Someone wants to give me a comic book movie? Wow.”

“But now I would like to write it but I don’t know about directing, because a) I’m too lazy to direct an action movie but b) I never got into this business to make a movie like that. I got into this business to make movies like Clerks and that was the first movie I made. You look at El Mariachi, you can see what Robert wanted to do from the get-go. I had no interest in shit like that. I like movies where people sit around and talk. I never got into this business to blow shit up or make people run. I sent Harvey [Weinstein] an email saying that I think I jumped into this too soon, and I will happily write it but I can’t guarantee that I will end up directing this movie. He was like, “I totally get it. Just write it and see how you feel when you write it”. So that’s where I’m at right now. I don’t know if I have an action movie in me.”

Smith also admitted to some less than savoury pastimes – watching She’s Having A Baby and Sweet Home Alabama while listening to Sting records, for example, as well as past indiscretions involving a Batman T-shirt and the roof of a pharmacy, the details of which we will take to the grave.

All in all, a most entertaining and informative night which left us with the impression that the only reason Smith makes films is to give him something to talk about, and the audiences a reason to turn up.

‘JERSEY’ JEER FOR NO-SHOW BEN

June 4, 2004 — DIRECTOR Kevin Smith had some fun at the expense of his pal Ben Affleck for failing to show up at the London premiere of “Jersey Girl” the other night.

The flick, in which Affleck stars opposite his ex Jennifer Lopez, was a critical and commercial flop, but reps for Affleck say his failure to show up was due to a bout of bronchitis. Yet Liv Tyler and J.Lo were no-shows as well.

“There’s no Ben, no Liv, no Jen here tonight,” Smith told the audience before the screening at the Curzon Mayfair theater, reports London’s Evening Standard. “Only me and I’m not in it.

“Ben can’t be here tonight because he has bronchitis. He originally thought it was meningitis, but it wasn’t — damn. Maybe we should call him Bronchifer.”

Smith — who also directed Affleck in “Chasing Amy,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Dogma” and “Mall Rats” — sarcastically noted, “Ben came over here to promote [box-office bomb] ‘Paycheck’ and that certainly did well.”

Smith also took issue with those who’ve said that his latest effort is a “disaster” — ” ‘Jersey Girl’ is not a disaster,” he said. “It cost $35 million and made $25 million. That’s lower than expectations, not a disaster. A disaster is ‘Gigli.’ ”

As for Affleck’s future, Smith told a PAGE SIX spy, “I preferred making films like ‘Clerks’ because I didn’t have to deal with the fallout of Hollywood power relationships. I’d work with Ben again but he’s had a rough year, so I think he’s going to take some time out from the business.”

While the star’s professional life has seen better days, his personal life is said to be on the upswing. Another tab across the pond, the Mirror, says he’s getting serious with a new gal pal, TV account executive Enza Sambataro, 26. [The first photo of the couple appears on the facing page.]

Affleck reportedly met the brunette at a fund-raising event in a Boston bowling alley and was immediately smitten. He soon asked her to go to Italy or Mexico for a romantic weekend, but she made him meet her mother first.

“She had to go to New Hampshire to spend a weekend with her family, so he asked if he could come along,” said a source.

Friends of Sambataro, who speaks three languages, describe her as “bright, athletic and very personable.”

Before
the stink palm. Before inkers were
tracers. Before Jay and Silent Bob
struck back. Clerks, the
epic film that launched filmmaker
Kevin Smith to the stratosphere of
the geek elite, will celebrate its
10th anniversary this year with a
monumental three-disc DVD set due
on September 14th. Three discs you
say? Yes indeed! Here’s what to
expect: a new and badly-needed
anamorphic transfer (from new high
def master), a patented
View Askew audio commentary track
(featuring Smith and his usual
suspects), deleted scenes, a new
documentary and behind-the-scenes
footage, the three-hour (!)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
documentary “Oh, What a
Lovely Tea Party,” footage
from the recent reunion screening
and Q&A session at LA’s
Arclight Cinema, trailers and
promotional material and tons
more.

 

One of the more interesting
and highly anticipated extras on
the set is going to be the “Julie
Dwyer Funeral” sequence that
was scripted, yet never filmed.
Newly animated by Powerhouse
Animation, this “lost
scene” (featuring the voices
of Brian O’Halloran, Jeff
Anderson, and Joey Lauren Adams)
will be able to be viewed by
branching it back into the feature
or on its own. Another possible
extra on the disc set, although
unconfirmed, could be the
inclusion of the unseen
live-action “Clerks”
pilot starring Jim Breuer.

IMDB – ‘JERSEY GIRL’ PREMIERE ENDS IN DISASTER

The British premiere of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s second film together ended in disaster on Wednesday night – when none of the ‘A’ list cast bothered to turn up. Jersey Girl – in which J.Lo has a small cameo – was premiered in London’s West End Curzon cinema, and only director Kevin Smith and his young star Raquel Castro were in attendance.

Organizers scrambled to conceal the embarrassing absence of leading man Ben Affleck, who is reportedly laid low with a bout of bronchitis. His love interest Liv Tyler also dropped out after contracting a sore throat, meanwhile Lopez – who split with Affleck in January – had already refused to appear alongside her former fiance. Since it was released in America, Jersey Girl has failed to captivate the critics and director Smith – who has a huge cult following thanks to his previous comedies – admitted he was disappointed with the film’s box office performance.

Jersey Girl tells the story of widower Ollie Trinke (Affleck), who is forced to face up to fatherhood and a massive lifestyle change following the death of his wife Gertie, played by Lopez. Affleck and his Maid In Manhattan ex previously starred together in box office mega-flop Gigli.

---

YAHOO – BEN AFFLECK AILING

Skip the premiere of Gigli, and we’d understand.

So, it must have been the real deal when Ben Affleck begged off the London premiere of Jersey Girl Wednesday night because of bronchitis.

Apparently, it was serious enough that the 32-year-old thesp was hospitalized for his ailment. He’s since been released and is back home in Boston recuperating, confirmed an Affleck publicist, who said, “He’s okay…he’s getting better.”

Maybe it was something in the water? Costar Liv Tyler was also a no-show, claiming a sore throat. That left only director Kevin Smith (news) and young star Raquel Castro in attendance.

Affleck’s absence led the British press to speculate that the Hollywood hottie had skipped out on the red carpet event to avoid talking about costar and onetime fiance, Jennifer Lopez (news), who’s been recently linked to newly single Latin singer Marc Anthony.

Conspiracy theories aside, the bad throat could be blamed on Affleck’s nonstop schedule. In recent weeks, the Oscar winner’s been spotted at a campaign fundraiser for U.S. Senator John Kerry (news – web sites), the White House Correspondent’s Dinner and a Boston Red Sox fundraiser.

His calendar isn’t expected to clear up any time soon. The Beantown boy, who won his Academy Award for cowriting 1997’s Good Will Hunting, is slated to begin shooting on Glory Road later this month. Road tells the true story of a basketball coach who led the first African-American college team to the NCAA (news – web sites) national championship in 1966.

…

Dogma (1999) Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as avenging angels who are laid off by God. Chris Rock as a 13th apostle who was never mentioned in the Bible and George Carlin as a cardinal who uses a Communion chalice for putting practice. Those are just three reasons there was wrath against Kevin Smith’s satire of what he saw as increasingly commercialized religion. And then there was screechy singer Alanis Morrisette playing God, but at least Smith directed her to keep her mouth shut.

‘Clerks’ anniversary edition does overtime

To mark the anniversary of Kevin Smith’s debut film, Miramax is releasing a three-disc Clerks: 10th Anniversary Edition (Sept. 7, $29.99) with two versions of the movie: the theatrical release and the original, which is about 10 minutes longer and has a new commentary from Smith and cast members.

Other extras include a documentary about the film; audition tapes; an animated missing scene; Smith’s student film project, Mae Day: The Crumbling of a Documentary; and some of his journals.

“I found the journal I kept at Sundance, so they’re putting that in,” Smith says. “It’s wide-eyed, so-this-is-the-movie-business kind of stuff.”

It may not have been on the scale of a Leicester Square event but last night’s Jersey Girl premiere at the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair still drew its share of eager fans, keen to get a glimpse of Ben Affleck walking down the red carpet. Sadly for them, though, it was to be a long wait.

“He has bronchitis,” director Kevin Smith told Empire before catching our slightly dubious look. “No, seriously. I got a call yesterday that he was in hospital. They were testing him to see if he had spinal meningitis but it turned out to be just bronchitis. I was like, ‘oh yeah the British press will believe that!’. You’ll all start calling him Bronchifer.”

His first film without potty-mouthed stoners Jay and Silent Bob, Smith is treading new ground with Jersey Girl, a far more conventional film about a single father raising his daughter in, you guessed it, New Jersey. Released a couple of months back in the States, the film tried desperately to stand on its own merit but, pairing Affleck with Jennifer Lopez, found itself swept up in the Gigli backlash and the couple’s break-up debacle.

“Yeah it does get dragged up,” said Smith. “I think we’re past the worst of it, though. It was pretty bad getting past the Gigli thing and the Bennifer thing but it seems like now the movie’s just being taken for what it is. Their relationship will always be tethered to it in some way though.”

In lieu of Affleck, Smith’s other lead was present to rave about the film, no not J-Lo or Liv Tyler, but Raquel Castro. Barely coming up to Empire’s waist, the nine-year-old actress wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the banks of microphones and flashing cameras. “The most fun is signing autographs, getting interviewed and having your picture taken. It’s very, very cool.”

Empire has dim recollections of our own experiences at that age and one incident involving a nativity play, a cardboard halo and a great many tears. Not the kind of situation likely to bother Castro, though, as she plans her future in Hollywood. “I might be doing a show on Fox. It means moving to LA and I won’t be able to go to school so I’ll have to get a tutor. It’s kind of a big choice to be making at this age.” Kids today eh? They grow up so fast.

Laker Jim: After Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl (NOTE: and now Green Hornet) he is going to do “Fletch Won” (the first Fletch Novel) which will be the story of a young Fletch and his first big case. He’s recently said “He (Chevy) was excellent. I mean Chevy is a comedy god. I want to work in Chevy Chase. Which would require a framing device where he’s telling the story . So we’d start with him and segway to Jason Lee (NOTE: now who knows). But that’s if he’s willing to do it.” Without agreeing to anything, would you at least consider it? Fletch fans everywhere want you to be a part of this.

Chevy Chase: For the record, Smith invited me to lunch about 5 or 6 years ago to talk to me about doing another Fletch movie: with me , obviously, playing Fletch. He was ebullient about it; about working with me; and said he was writing it as we spoke. After that lunch, he never took or returned a call from me. After 2 years, I was called by Alan Greisman, producer of the Fletch films, saying, “Kevin doesn’t want to do it.” PERIOD! So I waited for 3 friggin’ years to hear from someone else that Mr. Kevin Smith was, for all practical purposes, lying to me to begin with – having written nothing – rudely deceiving me, and all with no apparent concern for how easily (facile) one can hurt another human being and his family…he can shove it up his hole. If this is the type of director he aspires to being (the type of person I’ve seen a million times in Hollywood), I hope he gets the Karma he’s owed. As for me, he owes me one hell of an explanation. (But, with some, when you’re “hot” the rest of the world owes you).

If I played any part in the Fletch remake, think about it: as soon as I appeared on the screen people would say, “Hey…There’s Fletch, man!” Silly idea. Keep me out of it. Fletch is me.

Laker Jim: I know you said you can’t see anyone else playing Fletch (cause they’d just be imitating Chevy Chase), but what do you think of Jason Lee as an actor (who might play a younger Fletch)? He is a huge fan of yours and loves Fletch. Would you consider taking him under your wing?

Chevy Chase: I don’t know him or his humor. But, given how much “Fletch” was a personal product of my improvisation and the work closest to me as a person, I don’t get it. $?? (Always). As for Lee, I’m flattered and would be happy to share what I can with him.