Directed by Kevin Smith (Zack and Miri Make a Porno), Cop Out features two longtime NYPD partners on the trail of a stolen, rare, mint-condition baseball card who find themselves up against a merciless, memorabilia-obsessed gangster. Jimmy (Bruce Willis) is the veteran detective whose missing collectible is his only hope to pay for his daughter’s upcoming wedding, and Paul (Tracy Morgan) is his partner-against-crime whose preoccupation with his wife’s alleged infidelity makes it hard for him to keep his eye on the ball.

Kevin Smith directs Cop Out from a screenplay by Robb Cullen & Mark Cullen (TV’s Las Vegas). The film stars Bruce Willis (the Die Hard films), Tracy Morgan (TV’s 30 Rock), Adam Brody (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Kevin Pollak (Tropic Thunder), Guillermo Diaz (TV’s Weeds) and Seann William Scott (Role Models).

The film is produced by Marc Platt (Rachel Getting Married), Polly Johnsen (upcoming Cats and Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore) and Michael Tadross (I Am Legend, Hitch). Adam Siegel (Wanted), Robb Cullen and Mark Cullen serve as executive producers.

The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography David A. Klein (Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Chasing Amy); production designer Michael Shaw (August Rush, Boys Don’t Cry); costume designer Juliet Polcsa (The Sopranos, Jersey Girl); and Academy Award®-nominated composer Harold Faltermeyer (the Beverly Hills Cop movies). As he frequently does, Smith serves as his own editor on the film.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, A Marc Platt Production, Cop Out, to be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film is scheduled for release on February 26, 2010.

Can we again say how happy we are to see that Kevin edited the film together himself? Just makes it feel all that more special.

We’re also pleased to present a heap of official trailer links in every format under the sun — These download as well as stream, so grab yourself a copy if you wanna watch it a few times or show it off.

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“Cop Out” hits theaters on February 26th.

Take a look at this reaction posted today at Aint It Cool News..

Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis are great together. Jordan plays a cop and a husband who is fairly grounded in reality (not at all like his 30 ROCK Tracy Jordan character), only a bit paranoid (his wife, Rashida Jones, may or may not be cheating on him), a terrible actor (he plays a very unconvincing bad guy, when trying to trick a perp into giving up information), and possibly has a coke habit (the only reason I can think of for his constant sniffling).

Willis is pretty much what you would expect in this, but plays off of Morgan really, really well.

Adam Brody and Kevin Pollack play another team of detectives who are a couple of dicks. They figure into the story, but are somewhat inconsequential. Like he has in other movies though, Brody is pretty good about stealing the spotlight in the small opportunities he has.

You know what you’re getting from Sean William Scott from the trailer: a wiseass. Only he does parkour, although not particularly well. He’s not a star of this movie, but is very funny in a few key scenes.

Guillermo Diaz is the main bad guy and is all sort of bad ass. The dude has a habit of putting someone in a batting cage and hitting baseballs at them. Ouchies!

In the end, this feels a lot like a LETHAL WEAPON movie for 2010. It’s got some action, some comedy, and is just pretty much a joy to watch all the way through.

We never really spoke out about the trailer, and haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the final cut yet, though here’s what we think — If you watch the trailer, you can tell that the film just has such raw dialogue, that they had to struggle just to find enough to cut together in a green-band, which usually spells GREATNESS for an R-rated comedy. Plus, they’re not giving away much about the film’s plot or any of the big jokes. Don’t you hate when you go into a movie and just wait for all the jokes and beats from the trailer to unspool? You start thinking “Well, the movie must not be ending yet, I still didn’t see joke # xxxx from the trailer”.

Kevin has stated that he didn’t cut the “Cop Out” trailer and that the movie will surprise anyone who saw the trailer and had doubts. Not that what’s in the trailer is bad, mind you, but what you’re actually going to see in the film blows that trailer out of the water. After being fans for so long, we know how Kevin constructs a film, and this one’s going to be a modern action comedy classic. There’s no doubt about it.

Mark your calendars and be ready for “Cop Out” on February 26th — And if you catch it early, be sure to let us know what you thought.

For details on current available dates on Kevin’s spring tour, check out the View Askew site for ticket links and more. We’ll promote and announce future dates for 2010 as they arrive — We hear there’s plenty more on the way. If Kevin hasn’t come to your area yet, now is a fantastic time for you to talk to your local college activities board or venue about getting him in town. Kevin often comes to venues where he’s asked, rather than seeking them out. In other words, if you ask — He will likely come!

If you are in the LOS ANGELES area on Thursday and would like to see a Sneak Screening of the new Bruce Wilis movie Cop Out – Contact us

It might be worth hitting them up with a tweet or message to see if you can still get into the show tomorrow. Seeing Kev’s flick almost 2 months early? Priceless.

“…He basically explained his take on Hughes and his work. (As far as his films go, the doc focused mostly on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and Weird Science.) Kevin also mentioned that as much as the movies touched him, what he felt was missing for himself personally, he made into Clerks.”

Pretty cool stuff, can’t say we recall Kevin ever referring to “Clerks” as missing material from the other Hughes movies brought to life in Kevin’s own world, but we like it.

After an undercover stolen cell-phone bust goes bad in the cop comedy Cop Out, out Feb. 26, the detectives on the case — Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis — are hauled in for what director Kevin Smith calls “the classic ‘You guys are f– ups!’ scene.” Clearly, Willis isn’t too happy about it. “Later on, you’ll see three different forms of Bruce Willis action grimace,” says Smith. “But this is the getting-dressed-down-by-a-superior grimace, and that, mercifully, happens very little in the movie, because as we all know, Bruce Willis has no superior.”

As for Morgan’s cellular attire, Smith jokes that the suit was “definitely a controversial choice.” While Morgan was always supposed to wear the suit in the previous scene, Smith explains, “I remember in the script, it didn’t say that Tracy was still wearing the suit. [I thought], let’s spin it a little bit by leaving him in that ridiculous outfit — it just plays into what happened, and we get a few more [comedy] beats out of it. The first time we see Tracy [in the scene], it’s Bruce and Tracy in profile. So you see Bruce and you see this giant cell phone suit, and then Tracy pops his head out of the suit altogether and says, ‘Thank you captain!'”

The film also wasn’t always called Cop Out, either. You can click here for Smith’s ode to the film’s original risqué title, A Couple of Dicks, but the director says he stood firm about worries over the film’s salty R-rated language. “I’m sorry, in the world of cops, if people are firing guns at you, nobody says ‘freakin,'” says the director. “Except on TV, where they say ‘mother falcon’ all the time.”

Furthermore, Obsessed With Film logs a nice summary of the project so far, piecing together a lot of the news we’ve logged over the past few months in a tidy little package. Sort of a “Cliff’s Notes” of “Hit Somebody” in its early stages.

More good news? Well, first off, SModcast is still free. The new domain does not bring a cost with it. Not only that, but the iTunes delay is gone — Those of you who enjoy SModcast via your iTunes podcast feed will now see the new episodes show up as soon as they hit the site.

Oh, and by the way? When the site’s live, so is episode #101. SModcast #101 TONIGHT!

Quick Stop Entertainment is no longer a View Askew-owned site, but a new site called “Fred”, under the watchful eye of Ken Plume, who ran QSE and continues to produce the awesome SModcast (thank him for all the great music and FX you hear when you listen). So, we invite you to check out Fred, and of course visit the official SModcast site today.

For the official press release from Kev (and a heck of a deal on a t-shirt), take a look here.

Via @wadew22 “Who plays the villian in COP OUT?” A guy I’ve wanted to work with for a long time now: http://tinyurl.com/iloveguillermodiaz

Via @JeepersMedia “Is there ANY Old Movie that you could Remake Better?” DOGMA. I’d make minor cast changes and move the camera a lot more.

Via @codyunderblood “Austin Q&A: Still a chance we’ll get live SMOD to close the show?” If it sells out, yes: http://tinyurl.com/kevaustin

Via @thebdizzle “widening gyre kicking ass.” Thanks! I love it, too. Ish 4 ships this week (or next) & Walt’s almost half done w/ ish 5 art.

Via @TJdaSportsGuy “Ever consider getting a show on XM/Sirius?” If they can set it up so I can do it all from my office every morning? In.

As always, hit up the Twitter feed directly for all the lurid details, but strap in — And hide the kiddies!

Patrick Piteo, Justin Owades, Dominic Soria, Eric Rummel, Zakary Kurzawski

Winners: Watch your email and spam boxes, as we’ll be sending your codes out on Monday.

For those of you who tried and didn’t win, or just haven’t purchsed it yet — We’d like to remind you that the app is a bargain at the low price of 99 cents, and an easy decision for any fan/follower of Kevin or News Askew to purchase. The app makes it easy to get the latest updates from Kevin, direct access to News Askew stories as soon as they’re posted, custom photos, ringtones, and lots of other toys. Grab yourself a copy of this very slick, affordable app today — A must-own if you want to keep up with Kevin Smith and News Askew. App prices aren’t set in stone, by the way — While we hope the price never changes, you never know, so if you’re on the fence, drop the 99 cents today and secure yourself a copy of this beautiful app at a fantastic price.

“7. Which two NHL teams are featured in the Sega video game played by Jason Lee in the 1995 Kevin Smith film “Mallrats?””

Now THAT’S some good trivia. Without cheating, you know the two? Think about it.

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!

Let’s take a look back at the last 12 months, shall we? 2009: The Year In Askew, part one, is straight ahead.

January 2009

2009 kicked off in an uncharacteristically quiet, low key way. Kevin’s normally regular web presence continued to remain at low-key levels. Interviews and promotions for his latest comic, “Batman: Cacophony”, which he wrote, continued — longtime friend and fan favorite Walt Flanagan drew the book. However, it was obvious that this was a much more subdued press push than the past. We’d soon know why. Meanwhile, as the shrinking home video window continued, a February release date was already announced for “Porno”, which had just hit theaters at the end of October. The Bluray release would be day and date with the DVD, a first for a View Askew flick. Despite a lower than expected box office bow, the film would wind up on many “Best of 2008” lists which were revealed this month.

While Kevin wasn’t posting to the web and conducting as many regular interviews, the great SModcast would not be stopped. Episode #71 hit the webs in early January. Before the year was out, Kevin and Scott would hit a significant SMod milestone. By the end of the month, the guys would have recorded 3 more episodes for the web.

As the month continued, details began to surface for the “Zack and Miri” discs. Thankfully, View Askew would not let us down once again as far as extras go — The package would include a brand new documentary, a pile of deleted scenes, bloopers, and lots more. As Kevin and Scott had discussed the film at length on SModcast, for the first time, a View Askew DVD would not include an audio commentary track (though the extras would more than make up for the lack of one). Kevin made a rare post to explain his feelings on the commentary and how SModcast was an even better replacement. Our extensive review of the film details the greatness of the discs.



His first live appearance of the year took place in Hartford, laying groundwork for what would be the most significant year for Kevin’s stage show yet. Meanwhile, Smith made plans for a major event in Toronto for early February…

February 2009

February 2009 arrived with rave reviews for the “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” DVD. Critics and fans alike praised the film and the disc’s abundance of extras, some who had unfortunately discovered the film for the first time in their homes. Canadians were gifted with versions of the disc that featured exclusive “scratch and sniff” packaging.



While it had now been over 2 years since the last Vulgarthon film festival, Toronto celebrated their own mini-film fest of sorts in early February. With Kevin coming to town for a historic two-night appearance at the beloved Roy Thompson Hall, where every one of his gigs continually sells out, the Bloor Cinema tacked on a 3-night film festival following the appearances. Kevin appeared live for a Q&A session following each of the films, creating Canada’s own mini-Vulgarthon — a bright spot among their normally brutally cold winter. Audience reports raved that the appearances were among the best ever, with Jason Mewes making a rare onstage appearance alongside Kevin for most of the second night.

Kevin capped February with more live shows in New York and Ohio. At these shows, rumors began to circle on what his next project would be. Would it be “Red State”? “Ranger Danger”? Something new? It seemed that anything was possible, though Kevin’s immediate concern was getting out in front of the public, as his love for being onstage continued to blossom, as fans continued to pack seats to watch Kevin spend a few hours taking questions and entertaining crowds with one of the best impromptu shows in the land….A theme that would continue throughout the year. Until…

March 2009

In the most exciting, unexpected announcement of the year, March 2009 kicked off with a bombshell — Kevin had become a director for hire. But not just for any studio, and not just for any movie. Warner Brothers pictures signed Kevin to direct a major motion picture starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, titled “A Couple of Dicks”. The film was one of the great unpublished screenplays of 2008, so to see this script land in Kevin’s lap was a dialogue-lover’s dream. Full of raunchy, hilarious text, the script was the perfect fit for Kevin’s sensibilities. It would also mark the first time that Kevin would direct a feature film that was not from his own script. News agencies across the web picked up the news, and it appeared that we now had our main project/theme for 2009. This would be the year of “A Couple of Dicks”.

Within mere days of the announcement, rumors already started to circle that the title may change, to the more tame “A Couple of Cops”.

In mid-March, “Reaper”, a show with a pedigree similar to “Dicks” (Kevin directed, but did not write, the pilot episode), returned to the CW airwaves for a second season. While building on its mythology and critical acclaim, the program would not survive past its second-season finale.

In comic news, artist Walt Flanagan revealed that he and Kevin were working on a yet-to-be-titled follow-up project to the highly successful “Batman: Cacophony”. Before the year was out, we’d not only know its identity, but have quite a few issues on shelves to enjoy. Astute listeners to SModcast soon suggested that it had slipped that a “Batman” series was being written after the first series was already in the can, prompting us to speculate correctly that the next series would once again feature the caped crusader.

As March “marched” on, Kevin’s signing to direct “A Couple of Dicks” continued to generate quite a bit of press and speculation. In the middle of the month, though, another film briefly stole the spotlight — After a great deal of anticipation due to his praise of an early cut of the film, the world finally got to see “Watchmen”, one of the greatest graphic novels of all time, come to life on the big screen. And as one highly-anticipated geek movie debuted, one of the most beloved geek series of recent memory concluded — Sci Fi aired the final two hours of the incredible “Battlestar Galactica”, a show beloved to Kevin (who had the pleasure of making a set visit before everything was struck and boxed for good).

Around this time, when Kevin was in a particularly introspective mood, journalist Lee Stranhan scheduled what would become one of the most amazing sit-down interviews of his entire career. The interview, which was conducted earlier in the month, would feature the director discussing all aspects of his life and career in an even more open and honest way than ever before (a feat many thought not even possible for the already public Smith).

Since “Clerks”, hockey had always played a role in the films of View Askew. But in late March, Kevin laid groundwork to take his love of the game to a whole new level. After being touched by the story of Wayne Gretzky and his father Walter, Kevin mounted efforts to bring himself, fans, and friends to Brantford, Ontario for June’s Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Invitational. During an appearance in Vancouver, he also mentioned, for the first time, that he had an interest in making a hockey-themed film in the future.

By the end of March, SModcast, still rolling strong, had celebrated its 81st episode of free entertainment.

April 2009

It would become a buzzword on many reporter’s lists of the best of 2009. Twitter. Tweeting. While the service had been active for a few years prior to 2009, it wasn’t until this year that the mainstream embraced this service, burgeoned by the sudden celebrity love for the technology. By eliminating publicists, for the first time, celebs could use twitter as a direct line to their fans. By contrast, this was a practice that Kevin had adopted from early in his career with ViewAskew.com. Still, always being in the forefront of technology, Smith saw Twitter as yet another viable communication vehicle. Frequent use of the service started in early April, when Kevin trekked back to the east coast, where he would live for many months as production on “A Couple of Dicks” took place. The film would shoot in and around New York City, mostly on location.

Not ones to shy away from technology, News Askew also began tweeting our headlines and stories as well, giving readers yet another way to keep up with the latest.

Following a pre-production trip into NYC, Kevin jetted to Vail, Colorado, where he was presented with the Renegade Award at the Vail Film Festival, celebrating his entire body of work.

The good news continued, as Kevin made a weeklong visual clue game of one of the biggest announcements of the year: He would bring his beloved Q&A act to the stage of New York City’s prestigious Carnegie Hall in mid-June. To sweeten the announcement, it was also revealed that a new book would arrive in the Fall: “Shooting the Shit with Kevin Smith” would collect some of the best moments of SModcast in print form.

Hockey came back in a big way in April, when Kevin revealed he would be writing a new blog for the NHL to highlight the experience of watching the Devils in the playoffs. He’d also purchased a luxury box at Prudential’s center city Newark arena, The Rock, where he would entertain family and friends and introduce newcomers to the great game of ice hockey, with his beloved Jersey team.

May 2009

With the popularity of SModcast continuing on iTunes and Quick Stop Entertainment, Kevin and Scott decided to try an experiment – It was announced that the first LIVE SModcast would be held next month in Canada, the same weekend that the crew would be heading north for the Gretzky hockey tournament. Dubbed “Stocky Night in Canada”, the limited event would sell out in record time.

We also had a new date to add to calendars – Before film had started to roll on the movie, we had a tentative release date for “A Couple of Dicks” – February 26, 2010. Those brothers Warner sure don’t mess around.



By the middle of the month, Entertainment Weekly announced another newsworthy release — Kevin and Walt would indeed return with that speculated “Batman” series. This one, titled “The Widening Gyre” was already half completed with issue 1 set to debut in August. In addition to this expected news, it was also revealed that Kevin’s “Green Hornet” script ideas would see the light of day in comic form. A new miniseries would be on the way following the completion of “Gyre”.

Movie Trailers – Movies Blog

The month of big announcements continued when on May 14th, Kevin revealed to MTV that he wasn’t kidding around when he mentioned that hockey-themed movie idea in March. “Hit Somebody” would be the title of this one, based on a Warren Zevon song penned by author Mitch Albom. Following the announcement, quite a bit of articles on and by Kevin tied into the sport. It was apparent that hockey was on the brain, and in a very big way.

Followed by all the good news in May, a spot of bad news arrived on the 19th via Twitter – Star Ethan Suplee revealed that he and longtime-Askewer Jason Lee’s hilarious sitcom “My Name is Earl” had been cancelled by NBC. A glimmer of hope via a save by network TBS would come briefly before the official June cancellation announcement.

With filming getting close to rolling, May capped off with the announcement of two more cast members for “Dicks”: Seann William Scott and Adam Brody. By the end of May, the cast would have gathered for the first full read-through of the script.

June 2009



Production might have been starting on “A Couple of Dicks” as of June 2nd, but Kevin wasn’t going back to work behind the cameras without a gift to the fans — He and Scott presented SModcast #87 on the eve of the shoot. Due to the public nature of the on-location summer in New York City set, fans were quick to locate the cast and crew and snapped the first of what would be many looks at Willis, Morgan, and Smith in action.

Though filming had begun, Kevin wasn’t about to let that stop his hockey-themed weekend plans in Canada. Starting on June 6th, he and a large crew of friends and fans took to Brantford, Ontario for the Wayne Gretzky Hockey Tournament and the first live SModcast. The View Askew all-star team name? Puck U.



Then, on Saturday, the first ever live SModcast found Smith and Mosier on stage before a sold-out crowd of 1,100 where history was made.



On June 17th, we arrived at one of the biggest events of the year, and one of the most significant in Kevin’s life — Kevin took the stage to a sold out crowd in Carnegie Hall. Some of the world’s greatest performers have stepped onto that stage, and Kevin had now joined the ranks of a very elite few — Especially from the point of view that this was a one man show, where he’d single-handedly entertain the packed house for almost three full hours. News Askew was fortunate enough to witness this magical and historic event – One of Kevin’s finest performances of all-time.

While the first half of the year would have already celebrated a fairly busy, public schedule for Kevin as far as events, the next six months would set records, as Kevin announced a very aggressive Fall Tour schedule which would take him across the United States, to new cities, and abroad.

Finally, as June came to a close, more confirmed casting reports for “A Couple of Dicks” that built on an already impressive cast: Michele Trachtenberg, Kevin Pollak, and the great Jason Lee were all confirmed for supporting or cameo roles.

Join us later this week as we wrap it up, and cover the last 6 months of 2009. See you then.