• Variety is reporting that Columbia Pictures has optioned the rights to “The Green Hornet”. Kevin gets a mention in the Variety article, but it doesn’t sound like they’ll be using his script as they’re sending the project out to other writers in the next few weeks. A brief snip:

The property had been in development at Universal and Miramax, with Kevin Smith developing it for the latter studio a few years ago (Daily Variety, Feb. 18, 2004). Moritz obtained the film rights and optioned them to Sony, where he’s based.

George Clooney was at one time attached but opted out to star in “The Peacemaker.” Mark Wahlberg, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jet Li also were rumored to have been involved at one time or another.

Naturally, this news spread across the web today at many of the other outlets as well:

If we hear of any more of Kev’s stuff being used, we’ll let you know, otherwise, won’t be following the story much more here at News Askew. We wish they’d have taken a cue from the stinkage of Superman Returns though and looked at Kevin’s draft, as his Supes work was FAR superior to what eventually surfaced.

• “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” gets its UK terrestrial premiere on BBC2 this Sunday (25 March) @ 11.15pm. As with all BBC programming – no ads & no edits!
• You can enjoy Joey Lauren Adam’s writing and directing debut, “Come Early Morning” in your living room NOW. The DVD for the film was released Tuesday, and should be available for sale online or at your local DVD store. The film was cited as a winner by critcs for Adams’ work behind and star Ashley Judd’s work in front of the camera.
• The BFI Lesbian and Gay Film Festival is showing Malcolm Ingram’s acclaimed View Askew-produced documentary “Small Town, Gay Bar”. You can catch it at the NFT Southbank in London on the dates March 31st (11:50) and April 4th (20:00). Prices are £8.60, concs £6.25 / matinee tickets for 16-18-year-olds £4.00.

• Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier return for another episode of the now NUMBER FIVE RANKED PODCAST ON THE NET (according to the mighty iTunes), SModcast! In just five episodes, this is quite a feat and one to be incredibly proud of. This is one podcast that’s certainly spreading across the globe, and rightfully so — The honest matter-of-factness these guys display week after week continues to entertain like no other ‘cast out there. A lot of folks keep asking us if the show will ever be used for View Askew type scoopage, stories and news — To that the answer is a “no” for MOST of the time, though you never know when the guys might drop in a hint of what’s to come, or tell a tale of Askew’s past, among all the other general random fun. That’s the beauty of the show.

The rundown for this week’s offering, which brings the ‘cast count to SIX:

SModcast continues to offer up the FREE entertainment week after week, available for instant download for anyone with an internet connection and the skills to find it over at Quick Stop Entertainment. Enjoy this once-again insightful, entertaining, and funny episode.

• The great Brandon Hardesty once again channels multiple roles in another spot-on View Askew re-enactment. The guy’s got some great acting chops to mimic these performances so well, as well as some dang close sound and editing work, to boot. Check out his take on a famous scene from “Clerks” over at the ‘Tube.
• What’s this? A new book? Cool! Amazon.com always sneaks pre-order info for books up WAY early, and this time’s no exception. They’ve got a page up for the new “My Boring Ass Life: The Uncensored Diary of Kevin Smith” with a September 25, 2007 release date on there. As always, wait for our own Stash to have copies of this, as Kevin will happily sign each and every one, we’re sure. And you know a book’s TONS better (and more collectible) once it’s signed by the author himself. We’ll have Stash pre-order info for ya as soon as it’s available. We’re guessing this is the book that will collect some of the best and most memorable blog postings.
• Want to do a friend of Askew a solid? Sophia Venable, wife of often-Askew composer Jim Venable, is currently participating in the “Dancing with the Stars” road trip, and WON the Los Angeles leg! As she continues on her quest to win the show, you can VOTE and watch videos of her performance HERE. Go watch Soph cut a rug and show some love with your votes!!

• Some specs and art have leaked for the DVD arrival of “Catch and Release”, set to arrive on the 8th of May. DVDActive has the scoop which reveals that the disc will be light on extras (just two audio commentaries) but both fullscreen and widescreen versions of the film. We’ll be shocked if Kevin’s not on at least one of the commentary tracks. Here’s the report:

Title: Catch & Release
Starring: Jennifer Garner
Released: 8th May 2007
SRP: $28.95

Further Details: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced romantic comedy Catch & Release which stars Jennifer Garner, Juliette Lewis, Kevin Smith, and Timothy Olyphant. The film will be available to own from the 8th May, and should retail at around $28.95. The disc will carry both anamorphic widescreen, and full screen presentations – along with English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround tracks. The only extra material will be two audio commentaries (participants to be confirmed) and preview trailers. A Blu-ray release will also be available for $38.96.

• Very cool news today — The makers of a new documentary on the impact and legacy of “Jaws” confirm that Kevin has filmed an interview for the project. This courtesy their official “The Shark is Still Working” site :

The doc is currently in the hands of Universal Pictures as they seek distribution. If you wanna see it, take a sec to sign the online petition. We’ll let you know if we hear more.

• Catch of clip of Kevin’s character at this Yahoo Movies page of clips for the new TMNT flick.
• Fans Thaahum and Mattt Potter have done some nice musical and video tributes to View Askew in the past. We want to throw a quick plug for them for Thaahum’s new song for the upcomming Adam Rifkin film, “Homo Erectus”. You can catch a trailer that Mattt cut to it that can be seen over at YouTube. Also learn more about Taahum on music site “Pulse Rated”. Congrats, guys.
• And here’s a fun one to end out the day — Bullz-eye.com is currently running a “Bad Ass” bracket, where one of the branches is matching Maximus (of “Gladitor”) against Kevin and Scott’s beloved Dalton in “Road House”. Sorry to say, it seems Dalton’s throat-ripping technique just doesn’t have it against Maximus, as he’s currently only holding 9% of the vote!

• According to his latest blog, Kevin loves this “short effin version” of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, which takes the film and cuts it down, basically, to the mother of all words (mostly uttered by Jay). Ironically, our favorite portions of this edit are the little extra bits (aside from that big F) that the editor sneaks in. Kevin says:

Watch for yourself via YouTube or Break.com.

• Is the “Reaper” pilot still happening? You betcha! Kevin has this brief statement to offer up from mid-week:

We’ll keep you posted on this exciting development, the first thing that Kevin’s directed (but not written!).

• Chris Rock’s “Inside the Actor’s Studio” airs tonight on Bravo — If you missed it, well worth the watch! Check your local listings for times, as this whole early daylight savings thing has us all frazzled.
• We got a late scoop today that Jeff Anderson was on the Playboy morning show on Sirius Satellite Radio again this morning. We haven’t heard from Jeff so we don’t know if this is a rerun on a new episode. If anyone has any further details, let us know.

• In addition to really disturbing clip Kevin posted up a link to in his latest blog, he also reveals that BOTH London Q&A sessions (April 3rd and 5th) have sold out. Thanks to all of the fans in London for being incredibly supportive. Congrats to all who snagged tix. We know you’ll all have a total blast on either (or both) nights. As we always say, buy early! Hope no one got left out in the cold on this one. If you’re attending, we certainly look forward to your reports next month. Drop us a line.