Maverick filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) has found a way to take the Mad Mad concept and reimagine it as a self-tribute. Call it the Friars Roast method of casting. In Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, out Aug. 24, the title characters, played by Jason Mewes and Smith, sue a studio that is ripping off their comic books.

In what is essentially a road-trip flick, Jay and Silent Bob run into actors either in cameos or playing characters from other Smith releases. The list is a large one, including Ben Affleck and Jason Lee in dual roles, as well as Matt Damon, George Carlin, Carrie Fisher, Judd Nelson, Chris Rock, Mark Hamill and Alanis Morissette, reprising her God from Dogma.

Affleck planning for “Christmas”

By Michael Fleming

NEW YORK (Variety) – After surviving “Pearl Harbor,” Ben Affleck is in talks to star in “Surviving Christmas,” which is expected to begin within the next six months.

Affleck, who stars in the Disney WWII epic opening Friday, will play a man faced with spending Christmas alone. He tries to remedy his holiday depression by going back to the last place he was happy, his childhood home, and convinces the family living there to take him in.

The project will be produced at Columbia Pictures by Betty Thomas and her Tall Trees Prods. partner Jenno Topping. No director is attached yet.

After completing the starring role of a pilot in “Pearl Harbor,” Affleck took over the starring role in the Jack Ryan franchise with the Phil Robinson-directed “The Sum of All Fears” at Paramount. He will head over to “Surviving Christmas” after working for director Martin Brest in “Gigli.”

Thomas, whose directing credits include “Private Parts” and ”28 Days,” is preparing to shoot a feature version of the TV series “I Spy” in September. It stars Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson.