Where we last left off, Kevin had started to ramp up a worldwide tour, taking his popular Q&A on the road more locations than ever before. Along the way, two major stories were unfolding — Kevin had just started directing duty on Warner Brothers’ “A Couple of Dicks”, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, and had mentioned that his love for hockey had hit new levels, with plans for a hockey-themed film called “Hit Somebody”. Let’s roll into July.

2009: The Year In Askew, part two, starts now.

July 2009

With a triumphant sold-out Carnegie Hall show, the celebrated Canadian hockey trip, June was a banner month. “A Couple of Dicks” was the theme of July, with as cameras rolled all month long. Fans continued to catch glimpses of the actors at various locations around New York City, prompting few details but a lot of looks at how many of the film’s stars would appear onscreen. Sites continued to express high interest in the film, and Kevin revealed that he had personally already cut together over an hour of footage.

As fall tour dates kept rolling in, fans were happy to hear that despite a busy schedule of touring AND shooting a movie, Kevin would still make it to what was now becoming an annual tradition: An appearance at San Diego’s famed Comic Con. The Fall Tour officially went international with several dates in the UK added to the slate.

The San Diego panel was once again the talk of the ‘Con — Kevin packed the room to standing-only capacity and presented another memorable stint at the podium, where “Twilight” got a lot of attention from him, citing its popularity.

After finally getting enough notice from the Twitter gods, Kevin’s account became “officially verified” at the end of July. To this day, he remains one of the most widely-followed users on the service, with close to a staggering 1.6 million devoted fans hanging on his every 140.

August 2009



After spending past birthdays with fans at various events (a “prom” event, a Q&A in Red Bank), Kevin turned 39 in a more quiet way, as he continued his east-coast based work on the new flick. After lots of fan-shot images hit the web, the director shared a favorite frame of his own.

Following some downtime due to the duties of the shoot as well as its principles living on opposite coasts, Smith and Mosier returned to present SModcast #90 to fans early in the month.

On the 6th of the month, a tragic event felt by film lovers across the world – Director John Hughes, an inspiration to Kevin (mentioned quite often in his works, especially “Dogma”), passed away suddenly in New York City. Hughes was 59.

By mid-August, we learned that the summertime shoot of “A Couple of Dicks” was about to come to a close. The main event concluded on August 13th. While many fans had caught a look at the set here and there, details of the shoot itself, especially from Kevin, remained quite scant. Web critics continued to express excitement for the film, with “Total Film” citing is as one of their “Movies to Get Excited About” for 2010.

With principal photography complete, Kevin triumphantly flew back home to the west coast, where he began work on the first edit of “A Couple of Dicks”. As he put together his latest cinematic effort, his latest effort in the world of comics was also unleashed — “Batman: Widening Gyre” hit shelves on August 26th. It was the second story effort from Smith and artist Walt Flanagan, following their acclaimed “Batman: Cacophony” series.

September 2009

With Fall approaching, two major themes permeated the news of September: The Fall tour and the release of Kevin’s new book, “Shooting the Shit with Kevin Smith”. Calendar dates continued to appear, including an expanding UK tour that would take Smith into new cities such as Dublin and Glasgow in October.

Meanwhile, to kick off the month and celebrate his move back to the home office, Kevin blazed yet another new trail via Twitter – A 24-hour tweet-a-thon, where he answered fan queries non-stop on September 7th and 8th. The event would go on to receive quite a bit of press and attention.

Via those tweets, and some other digging, it was revealed that “Red State”, a 180-degree dark, depressing screenplay Kevin had penned, might have found financing. Rumors like this would circle for the remainder of the year, though by 2010, funding would still be scarce, with no immediate plans for the film to go into production. Could 2010 be its year?

On September 17th, the Fall Tour kicked into gear with the first stop of many on a record-setting globe-trot: Minneapolis, Minnesota, soon to be followed by Ann Arbor, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois.

Less than a week later, on the 22nd, Kevin’s new novel “Shootin’ The Shit with Kevin Smith” (aka The SModcast Book) took to shelves. Kevin took opportunities to hold signings for the book in conjunction with Fall Tour appearances, which had moved from the northern U.S. into Canada.

With the first ever live SModcast celebrating such success in Canada, Kevin and Scott capped September with the first-ever US-based live SMod show in, where else…Red Bank, New Jersey. Lucky fans in attendance were treated to a meet-and-greet with the stars of the show, where their books were personally signed. A highlight of the event, later placed online for fans to enjoy, featured the authors reversing roles for a reading of a chapter of the book. One of the funniest taped moments of the year, by far.

As book promotions continued, Kevin made a rare 2009 TV appearance on the Jimmy Fallon Show . Following the TV stint, he spent the final days of September on a nationwide radio tour in support of the book.

October 2009

We hadn’t heard much about “Hit Somebody” for a while, but that was about to change. In a conversation with the NHL, Kevin revealed detailed plans for the film for the first time. He followed it up with a long sit-down with The Huffington Post, one of the best articles of the year which spans his entire career.

As the second week of the month arrived, Kevin found himself overseas, for a weeklong stint of live shows and promotional appearances. From BBC radio and television to stages in Scotland and Ireland, it was by far the most ambitious and expansive visit he had ever conducted abroad. While there, he confirmed that he still intended for “Hit Somebody” to be his 10th directorial effort, with “Red State” somewhere beyond that.

The fall tour continued, with west coast dates allowing Kevin minimal travel, as he put the finishing touches on his edit of “A Couple of Dicks”. Fans in Seattle and Los Angeles cited the shows as some of the best of all-time with continuing reports and articles confirming just that. As the fall tour dates seemed to be settling, fans without a nearby city to attend were pleased when the news of a Spring 2010 tour appeared, with stops in Texas, Michigan, Kansas City, and more.

In addition to the sold-out live appearances, Kevin Smith the writer also came out to play in October, with a surprise piece for UK’s “Guardian” titled “This Much I Know” that ranked among one of the funniest and most honest of his career.

SModcast continued its march toward a landmark 100 episodes — Kevin and Scott gifted fans with episode #96 at October’s end.

November 2009

With “Hit Somebody” on the brain, Kevin took his love for hockey directly to the people — Via support from the NHL and various areas and teams, Kevin began recruiting Twitter followers for teams around the league — Random lucky followers would be awarded the chance to join Kevin for a live NHL game in a luxury box at arenas around the country. Through the promotion, he’d easily double the Twitter following of his home team, the New Jersey Devils.

Fans anxiously awaiting news on a green light for “Hit Somebody” got a small step closer to that reality, when a video showcasing Kevin’s recent meeting with Mitch Albom, author of the song on which the screenplay will be based, hit the web. In the video, Albom gives his blessing to the project and takes time to show Kevin around Detroit’s historic Joe Louis Arena. Kevin would begin writing the script in December.

In November’s second week, on the 12th, the first top secret screening of “A Couple of Dicks” was held to rave reviews and high scorecards from those in attendance, including at the highly critical Aint It Cool News website.



Then, a historic day for techno-geeks: Bluray releases of 3 of Kevin’s most beloved hit shelves in a single set — The “Clerks”, “Chasing Amy”, and “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” 3-pack arrived, filled with glorious extras including the long-awaited “Tracing Amy” documentary from Chop Shop Entertainement. It marked the first time that Clerks and Amy were available in high-definition formats.

December 2009

The usually news-deprived, quiet month of December began as such, though thanks to the wonders of Twitter, Kevin remained in regular contact with the fans for mini-chat sessions.

Meanwhile, a major milestone was brewing — SModcast debuted episode #99 on December 8th. With it, Kevin hinted at “changes” to come after the 100th episode, but went no further to divulge details.

On that same day, after much speculation, it was official – we learned that “A Couple of Dicks” did indeed have a new title, though it would be kept secret until Warner Brothers had released the details.

On December 15th, SModcast turned 100, with a surprisingly humble 100th episode, where Smith and Mosier decided it was best to not make a fuss and do what they do best – Deliver the funniest podcast in the land to the dedicated fans. Episode #100, titled “The Yardstick”, clocked it at a cool TWO HOURS.



As he’d already conquered most digital media, it was only natural that Kevin Smith would be among the first in Hollywood to have a dedicated iPhone application, which we had first learned of in November. On December 18th, that became a reality, as Kevin Smith: The iPhone/iTouch Application, went live for sale at the bargain price of 99 cents. The application featured such gimmicks as your own Kevin Smith ringtone, the ability to take your picture with Kevin, as well as direct access to Kevin’s latest tweets and News Askew’s latest stories.



On December 23rd, the title was finally revealed, along with a slick official trailer – “Cop Out”. Warner Brothers would opt for the title change to ensure the freedom to advertise the film freely on all networks prior to 9:00 PM, as the original title was deemed unsuitable for those early hours. The film was set for a February 26, 2010 release, with the official trailer tied to all prints of “Sherlock Holmes”, in theaters on Christmas day. Following the title’s reveal, Kevin would break his silence on the details behind the title change to Entertainment Weekly.

As December drew to a close, and with it, 2009, it was difficult to not imagine what 2010 might bring. Obviously, “Cop Out” would come first, but what next? With only a spring tour on the official schedule so far, we can only speculate. However, with films like “Hit Somebody” and “Red State” not off the radar, we’re prepared for another surprising year in Askew with 2010. And what about that View Askew namesake? To cap the year, perhaps in quite a poetic fashion Kevin made a rare detailed post where he hinted that the Askewniverse is certainly down, but perhaps not out, forever. Clerks III in 2016?

We’ll see you then.

Happy New Year to the fans and our loyal readers and Twitter followers — We’re looking forward to an exciting 2010, as News Askew enters its astounding 14th year of bringing you the latest from the world of Kevin Smith, View Askew, and all the branches that sprout from within. See you next year!