• Affleck. Lee. Damon. Banks. Kevin’s had his eyes on some folks who went on to do big things in Hollywood. So, it’s with excitement that we reveal his discovery for the lead of “Hit Somebody”, a relative unknown by the name of Nicholas Braun, who Kevin just revealed (via the just-gone-public new episode of “Hollywood Babble-On”) will take on the lead in the flick:
  Meet Nicholas Braun – the star of the last film I plan on making. He IS my Buddy. Literally.

  Deal Cenrtal posts a nicely detailed full story:

  Kevin Smith has announced that Nicholas Braun will play the lead role of Buddy McKraken in the director’s upcoming hockey comedy “Hit Somebody.”

  The filmmaker broke the casting news during the 14th episode of his popular podcast, Hollywood Babble-On.

  “He’s this really great actor who I love to death and he is the perfect lead for this hockey movie, for this script, which is based on this Warren Zevon song,” said Smith.

  I’m not familiar with Braun’s work but I trust Smith implicitly when it comes to casting, as he has a great eye for spotting natural talent. Who else could turn Jason Mewes into a household name, or make a Hollywood star out of a skateboarder named Jason Lee?

  Smith is the guy who helped put Ben Affleck on the industry’s radar in “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy,” gave Will Ferrell a major role in “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” before he became an A-list movie star, and cast George Carlin as a freakin’ Cardinal in “Dogma,” so he’s earned more than a little good will when it comes to casting matters.

  The director also revealed that his Hollywood Babble-On co-host Ralph Garman will appear in “Hit Somebody” on the heels of his appearance in “Red State.”

  Smith hopes to start filming sometime between July and September of 2011.

  Seann William Scott was previously set to star before he accepted the lead of a rival hockey comedy, “Goon,” which co-stars Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber and Alison Pill.

  Braun has previously appeared in “Sky High” and on the ABC Family series “10 Things I Hate About You.” The actor also has a role in Smith’s next project, the political horror film “Red State.”

  Braun is represented by WME and Levine/Okwu/Erickson.

We’re guessing life’s going to get a lot more interesting for Mr. Braun in the coming days/weeks, and are excited to see things continuing to move forward on this hockey-themed flick, long a passion of Kevin’s now becoming closer to reality.

• Regular followers of this site already know that Kevin’s immediate plans in the world of film include a release of “Red State”, followed by “Hit Somebody”, as well as a potential return to the world of “Clerks” if he has something to say about life in his 40’s through the eyes of Dante and Randal. We follow pretty much everything said by or about Kevin here at News Askew, and these are indeed the only 3 film projects that Kevin has mentioned over the past few years, at all. So, it came of no surprise when we saw this quote that /Film pulled from a recent interview:

  “Red State is done. Next step is the hockey movie, Hit Somebody. Then I’m done. There’s possibly a Clerks 3. If I have something to say in my late 40s about being in my late 40s, I’ll think of [Clerks’] Dante and Randal. Shy of that, I don’t have any more movies I want to make.”

  Did we take this as a unofficial announcement of retirement from filmmaking? Not at all, really. Kevin has always said he wanted to get 10 films out there (he’s been saying this for a LONG time, dating all the way back to Dogma around 1999). So, to our loyal readers, this may not have seemed major news, though it seems some outlets picked this up as some sort of bombshell without even checking with the source. /Film, however, decided to contact Kevin directly about the quote, and he Kevin took the time to script a thoughtful, detailed response which we’ll share a few excerpts from here:

  … But THIS “retirement” crap? Not news so much as another sad example of how fucking lazy movie press has become: they cannibalize stories by other writers just to have something to post on their own blogs. Yours was the only website that bothered to go DIRECTLY to the source, Peter – other cats ran articles without even tossing a Tweet my way to check veracity. And I answer Tweets like I answer the dinner bell: often & much. While sweating. And already eating something else.

  I’ve always said (since CLERKS, even) that I’ve got about ten films in me (that info might even be on my Wikipedia page). And COP OUT notwithstanding (solely because I didn’t write it), HIT SOMEBODY is the 10th film I’ve got in me. At this moment in time, I’ve got no other flicks I wanna make. The musing about a possible return visit to the View Askewniverse with a third CLERKS is something I’ve been doing since CLERKS II, but I’ve always opened said musings with the disclaimer “If I ever wanna make a flick about being in my 40’s, I’ll think of Dante & Randal first.” There are no concrete plans for a CLERKS III.

  …

  …If you’ve GOTTA have some Kevin Smith news to hold you over? Here’s something that’s not so much news as my stated intentions for RED STATE: if it gets into Sundance, my plan is to pick the RED STATE distributor right there – IN THE ROOM – auction style. Might even bring up a professional auctioneer to make it fun and unintelligible. And if you’re a multi-millionaire who can’t make it to the first screening of RED STATE, fear not: maybe we’ll set up an eBay page for the post-screening bid-calling as well.

  Congrats to /Film for doing the diligence to check with Kevin, and for getting the facts straight. More news later, as we’ll be watching for the “Hit” news and anything else that drops, as well as catching up on some leftover holiday tidbits from the break. Stay tuned.