I guess the fans are very excited about Kevin’s involvement on the TV show. The reaction up here has also been very good. There has been some questioning
lately trying to find out who your source was 🙂 but they just can’t keep this under wraps.

There has been plenty of plans for future re-assignments and plenty of moving around inside the “Ranch”, they have already started making room for the
offices that will handle the TV show. I am not quite sure if the bulk of the work will be done here or if they will be done over at the Presidio. Smith is
definitely the top choice and I have been told that he has been staying very busy with negotiations before he starts up with his Clerks sequel. There was
some up here that claim that he was spotted up here a few weeks ago, I didn’t see him.

The TV show will go full speed as soon as Sith is released by that time Kevin should be done with most of his work on Clerks 2. Your scooper that sent you
the info on Hamill is right, they are hoping to get Mark to come back and be like the mentor of the new Jedi Knights or something. I am trying to pin point
the time frame and if they are expected to keep the EU continuity. I personally doubt that EU storylines will be explored, they might be mentioned but from
what I understand Kevin and George want fresh new storylines. I was told about a possible twist to show, even though it’s to take place after Return of the
Jedi a few ILMers have been talking about showing some flashback sequences via Holocron- type technology.

I was also told that the public should expect an official announcement within a few months. Part of not releasing any information on the show is because
News Corp. [20th Century Fox] is hoping to be involved with the distribution of the show. There has also been some rumblings coming from the Sci-Fi Channel
hoping to land the domestic distribution but I doubt that will happen. One other thing, Sith is turning up nicely.

Talk to you next year.

Darth Scooper

Kevin Smith

by Michael Wilson

Maybe it was because one more E! story about “Bennifer” would’ve resulted in armed revolution. Maybe it was because Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez had
parted ways by the time it was released. Or maybe we just weren’t ready for a Kevin Smith movie sans Jay and Silent Bob. Whatever the case, Jersey Girl
failed at the box office in March–yet Smith remains my choice for the most influential artist of 2004.

After seeing Smith’s debut movie Clerks in 1994, I knew I could be a filmmaker. It was the film that put within reach the career I had only dreamed about.
Though my own first flick would be a documentary, I couldn’t resist paying homage in it to the guy who made me believe it was possible. (Fans of Smith’s
Mallrats will know the moment when they see it.)

My generation needed a voice (the baby boomers had Dylan), and Smith was the foul mouth we had been searching for. Through his unique observations about
everything from Star Wars to blow jobs, from the nature of God to the difficulty of deep and powerful relationships–including those between father and
child–Smith has been my guide to growing up. He has synthesized what’s on the minds of Generation X and delivered it in hilarious fashion.

But in 2004, Kevin Smith influenced me for reasons that have little to do with filmmaking. Though Jersey Girl was a bomb, I connected with it in a profound
way. As the father of a young girl, and as someone who, at times over the past year, found myself placing my career above more important things, I took
from the saccharine, John Hughes-style ending of Smith’s film the bit of hope that I needed. As Affleck’s Oliver Trinke says after having a similar
realization about his disordered priorities, “I’m gonna be the best daddy in the world.”

Sometimes it takes a good movie to remind us what we really want to be.

BLUNT LIGHT SPECIALS!!! BUY BUY BUY!

So in honor of Boxing Day, we’ve opened our discount site – the Blunt-Light Specials*. This is where merchandise goes to die. Once liquidated, we won’t be
making any of this stuff again. We’ve slashed the prices so much, we’re taking losses on some stuff (though even reduced-price moving merch is better than
dead stock). Take some of that Christmas cash and drop it on this cheap-ass (yet high quality) swag!

Blunt-Light in Full Effect!

*They say a joke blows if you’ve gotta explain it, but here goes: For those too young to get the “Blunt-Light Specials” joke, waaaaay back in the day when
K-Mart was a store you were openly derided and mocked for shopping at, periodically they’d turn on a flashing blue light in a section of the store, and
shoppers would rush like roaches to scap up the discount merchandise offered below the glow.

WATCH THE EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH 2: EVENING HARDER TRAILER HERE!

Question : Or were you blissfully unaware that you’ve been dotting the T’s and crossing the I’s with George Lucas over the past few days?

Kevin: Nope – not even you are gonna trick this one out of me. *Goes back to humming the theme from ‘Star Wars’*

1. Jimmy Hunt, a touching tale of a man and a condom

2. Cigarettes and Superheroes, a moving tale of a man and a cigarette

3. R.U.U., a motivating tale of a man and a microphone

4. Universal Language, a heart-wrenching tale of a girl and her mime

5. Whistlin Dixie, an inspiring tale of a girl and her psychotic tendencies (made, by the way, by our VERY FIRST FEMALE filmmaker)

Looking Back at Miramax, While Many Wonder About the Future

by Eugene Hernandez

Another real Oscar contender from Miramax, one that many believe has the potential to win big this year, opens in theaters today while at the same time many in the industry continue to speculate whether the company’s founders will still be at the helm come Oscar night. Martin Scorsese’s spectacular look at the life of Howard Hughes, “The Aviator,” was one of many films touted during a seven-minute highlight reel from the 25 year history of Miramax, screened at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan last night. The clips, a collection of iconic Miramax movie moments cut together to some of the most familiar music from the company’s films, kicked off a 50-film series at MoMA, followed immediately by more than an hour-long Q&A session with the Weinsteins, moderated by filmmaking favorite son Quentin Tarantino.

Much of the discussion looked at the legacy of the company, with Tarantino leading the Weinstein brothers through a discussion of the history of Miramax from its launch in 1979 and including a number of anecdotes and light-hearted insights on the company’s films. After about an hour, the director finally asked the primary question on the minds of many of those in attendance. “What’s going on guys?” Tarantino said, as the Weinsteins sat silent for a beat and some in the audience chuckled. “We’ve gotta go now,” Bob Weinstein said quietly. While brother Harvey reiterated the same message,” From our point of view, the idea is to resolve it in an amicable way with Disney.”

The Weinsteins remain in ongoing discussions with executives at their corporate parent, that bought Miramax in 1993, and the brothers are still under contract to run company, however it is understood that Disney wants to make some changes before the end of 2005.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing earlier this week, Disney said, “The Company does not expect business at its subsidiary Miramax to continue at the same level beyond the September 30, 2005 date on which the current contractual relationship with the co-chairmen (Bob and Harvey Weinstein) will end.” The Disney filing continued, “The Company is currently in negotiations with the Weinsteins regarding the future of our business relationship with them. At this time the Company is unable to determine whether projects currently in progress may be abandoned or otherwise impaired and whether there will be any material charges.”

With a nod to their mother Miriam, who they asked to take a bow from her seat a few rows back, the Weinstein’s reminded attendees that the Miramax name was formed with the names of their own parents, Miriam and Max. And Weinstein, reiterating that Miramax is “the house that Quentin built,” underscored his pride in the films that they have released over twenty-five years, noting that the company is “a debt-free, $2 billion asset.” That would seem to be his answer to recent comments from Disney that questioned Miramax’s profitability.

With last night’s event, including the reel of clips emphasizing the award-winning works that have earned the company some 229 Academy Award nominations and 54 Oscars, the brothers are clearly trying to remind people (including the journalists in attendance) of their own legacy while at the same time positioning themselves for the future. A day after the Disney finling this week, Miramax issued a press release touting its successes, including a leading 15 Golden Globe nominations on Monday, and hyping the kick-off of last night’s MoMA retrospective that will screen some 50 films now through the end of the year and continuing next summer.

Miramax said this week that on its upcoming release slate are Dimension’s “Darkness” (December 25) and “Hostage” (January 21) and Gurinder Chadha’s “Bride & Prejudice” (February 11), as well as Wes Craven’s “Cursed” (February 25), Robert Rodriguez’ “Sin City” (April 1) and “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.”

“A lot of this had to do with ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′,” Harvey Weinstein said, talking about the current tensions with Disney, “When you stand up for what you believe in, sometimes you pay a price,” but he added that he would do it again. Continuing, he noted that “the response from the financial community has been great,” joking, “I’ve never been the pretty girl,” but saying that he and his brother are entertaining many offers.

“We feel young,” Bob Weinstein said on stage, drinking from a bottle of Diet Coke during the chat, “We want to keep doing it. Look at the film and see what we’ve done, and we want to do more of it.” And brother Harvey Weinstein offered, “We are not gonna stop making films or being the kind of film company that we are,” emphasizing that their relationships with Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez and others would continue at any new company he and his brother create. “They’re coming with us,” he asserted.