“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.