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“Kevin Smith’s run on the comic really got me excited again,” says Johnson. “I remember reading the foreword by Ben, but I couldn’t get through to his agent. Kevin was the one – I didn’t know him but I was introduced to him through someone at Marvel. He was like “Dude, why not Ben?” He helped me set up the meeting and he pushed the movie.” Smith actually went further than that – he even moved the shooting scheuale of his own Affleck-starrer, “Jersey Girl”, to allow the actor to fit Daredevil in.
“I’ve talked to Kevin Smith about him writing the next script” adds Johnson. (Total Film then jokes it’d probably make a very static film, in which people just slack, discussing Daredevil.) “Hey, I’m gonna direct it man!” cries Johnson.
BEN AFFLECK: Kevin is the reason why Good Will Hunting got made. Kevin is the reason I have a career playing leading roles and not being stuck playing obnoxious bad-guy bullies. Kevin believed in me after Mallrats and cast me in the lead of Chasing Amy. We were doing Chasing Amy and he told Miramax – who had already passed on Good Will Hunting initially – that they should read the script. And that’s the reason we got it made there.
Kevin has always been a big believer in me. I really owe the guy a big part of my career, if not the whole thing. Don’t tell him that because he’ll ask for money.
He’s also seen as the godfather of the comic-book/movie connection. Here’s a guy, he’s such a comic-book enthusiast, he owns a comic-book store, he worked for Avi (Arad) writing Daredevil and he’s a filmmaker. And he was a natural for Mark (Steven Johnson, Daredevil director) to go to.
In some ways, when you do something like this, taking on a character that’s already been done, you kind of seek people’s blessings – the people who had already worked on it. Kevin did a great run of Daredevil and the people like Frank Miller, the kind of people Mark and I wanted to please with this because they represent the hardcore fans and the base support core group.
And Kevin was very enthusiastic, brokered my connection with Mark and has been like a champion of me doing this. Very encouraging. Came in and sat and watched early cuts of the movie and gave feedback.
And is in the movie. And, actually, isn’t nearly as bad of an actor in this movie than he is in his own movies. (Laughs). True, it’s like he needs a guest director to come in and direct him. So he doesn’t bug his eyes out so much. It’s like a weird Al Jolson performance in his own movies. He’s grounded in this one.
The flick will air on The Movie Network (Canada’s answer to HBO!). That’s all we got for today, folks — See ya next time.
Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle were selected over the weekend in Park City as the winning directors for the second installment of “Project Greenlight,” HBO and Miramax Films’ reality TV series and film-directing contest. The award-winning script was “The Battle of Shaker Heights,” by Erica Beeney, which beat out 7,200 other submissions. “Heights” is now slated to head into production March 10, with a budget of at least $1 million. As in “Greenlight”’s first season, Miramax will guarantee a theatrical release. The series kicks off in June on HBO.
I am thoroughly enjoying the “Evening With Kevin Smith” DVD set. He is as engaging and entertaining with his stories and humour in these Q&A sessions as his dialogue is in all of his films.
