Here’s a nice little surprise, if you’ve been hoping to see Kevin Smith’s non-commerical, ‘bleak and dark’ Fred Phelps-inspired horror film Red State. According to the director’s own Twitter feed, the film has a green light and will shoot before the hockey film Hit Somebody, which he has been working on parallel to Red State.
We should’ve seen this coming, as on Feb 17 Smith said that he would be talking about Red State soon, and that “the only money it’ll require from [fans] will be at the box office.” The latter refers to the concept of funding the film via fan donations, which was an idea investigated by Smith for a brief time.
Then today, Smith said: “I talk about lots of stuff I wanna do that either happens years later or never happens at all. Happy to report RED STATE is not the latter.” He followed with “First draft was dated 9/5/07. Looks like we start shooting this July. Took nearly three years, but we’re finally gonna roll on RED.”
Further 140-character missives add some detail: “Writing HIT now; shooting HIT on heels of RED STATE. #DoingFlicksAssToAss” and in response to a question about doing the film as a studio or full indie feature, he says “(*Marches across big lawn, up front porch*) I’m home, Momma.”
That latter one is interesting, as it seems evident that this won’t be a studio film a la Cop Out. It also implies that the Weinsteins, who originally passed on the script in 2007, could be the backers. I’m not going to read too much into a following tweet about coming home, but some might.
So what is Red State? In 2007 Smith said he was writing a feature that involves a character inspired by infamous ‘preacher’ Fred Phelps. Smith said at the time,
The movie’s called ‘Red State’ and it’s very much about that subject matter, that point of view and that position taken to the absolute extreme. It’s certainly not Phelps himself but it’s very much inspired by a Phelps figure,” revealed Smith. “And to me, too, the notion of using a Phelps-like character as a villain, as horrifying and scary as that guy can be, there’s even something more insidious than him that lurks out there in as much as a public or a government that allows it and that’s the other thing that I’m trying to examine in a big, big way. It’s weird because for a few months I’ve been saying ‘horror movie’ and technically it is, but it’s also not a very traditional horror movie in the sense that people have been asking me, ‘Is it a slasher movie? Is it like the Japanese horror flicks?’ It’d be much easier to just show it to them when I’m done and be like, ‘This is what I meant.’ At which point I’m sure there’ll be people saying, ‘This ain’t a horror movie!’ But to me, it is.
Granted, it has been two and a half years since that first script draft, so we don’t know what has changed. But Smith has said over and over that the film is very dark, completely non-commerical and “so bleak that it makes The Dark Knight look like Strawberry Shortcake.”
Finally! I've been waiting and waiting for this, there was even talks about having this movie "fan-funded" which caused some controversy for Smith, but looks like it is going to be made now.
I remember reading why this movie had difficulty to get funding for,
don't read the spoiler if you don't want to know why and what could happen in the end.
Possibly Big Spoiler
I honestly hate it when Horror movies attempt to do that, if
[Show spoiler]everyone dies,
then what's the point?
Logan
Well, Smith says it's not an actual horror movie and I've never perceived it as such. Maybe just a very grim story.
So that label might not entirely fit, the story and where it leads could make "more sense",
[Show spoiler]rather than just for shock effect like horror movies do, a strong moral to the story rather..
I was hoping that Red State was going to be his next film after Clerks 2 since he announced it before Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Finally glad he's going to make it, let's hope it turns out good.
The movie’s called ‘Red State’ and it’s very much about that subject matter, that point of view and that position taken to the absolute extreme. It’s certainly not Phelps himself but it’s very much inspired by a Phelps figure,” revealed Smith. “And to me, too, the notion of using a Phelps-like character as a villain, as horrifying and scary as that guy can be, there’s even something more insidious than him that lurks out there in as much as a public or a government that allows it and that’s the other thing that I’m trying to examine in a big, big way.
Granted, it has been two and a half years since that first script draft, so we don’t know what has changed.
Like, "Why self-satisfied Athie writers can't find public love or validation wrapping themselves in news headlines anymore, now that Bush isn't still in the White House to pin all their paranoid fears, blame and bigotry upon."
(Yes, there was a great wail and cry, the day Obama was elected, and Kevin Smith, Penn Jillette and Bill Maher didn't have anything to joke about anymore...)
These folks may not be "names" to a lot of folks, but I in particular know all of them, and have been a fan of Gallner and Angarano for quite some time. Gallner going back to his work on Veronica Mars and Angarano being of course from one of my all-time favorite films "Almost Famous" I previously had very little interest in this project but when you factor in Michael Parks as well. I am most definitely now interested.
Mulroney, Gallner, Angarano, Root, and Leo in Talks
Quote:
In a recent interview, Kevin Smith talked about the divide between the type of actors he was looking to cast in the horror film Red State (“not complete unknowns,” but not “name recognizable” either), and the caliber of thespian actively seeking roles (“grade A talent”). Judging from the list of actors who are currently in talks for the project — Dermot Mulroney, Kyle Gallner, Michael Angarano, Stephen Root, and Melissa Leo according to TheWrap — Smith may not be able to ward off all worthy suitors.
Root and Leo are well-respected veterans in the field, and there’s a 78% chance that Mulroney can be classified as a recognizable name; it seems likely that the seasoned trio are eying supporting roles. The younger Gallner and Angarano, on the other hand, may be candidates for lead roles opposite star Michael Parks (Grindhouse) in the film, “loosely based on Reverend Fred Phelps of the hateful Westboro Baptist Church.” According to a Smith tweet, Red State starts shooting on September 22nd.
Awesome, can't wait to see it
It has a great cast if that's true. Especially Angarno, who I think is a great actor and think he should be in more things. It'll be interesting to see Smith take another diverson off his normal types of movies. I hope this is awesome
Awesome, can't wait to see it
It has a great cast if that's true. Especially Angarno, who I think is a great actor and think he should be in more things. It'll be interesting to see Smith take another diverson off his normal types of movies. I hope this is awesome
TheWrap is a pretty damn trustworthy site, I don't think I've ever gotten bad info from them, so this definitely seems legit. Not to mention if someone was going to make this up, I don't think they would have picked so many random actors. Angarano next stars in Max Winkler's wedding comedy "Ceremony" and Steven Soderbergh's action extravaganza "Haywire."
I have a feeling this is going to be pretty awesome. Smith may knock it out of the park. And for such a small, random movie this grim I'm hoping it will do well.
I have a feeling this is going to be pretty awesome. Smith may knock it out of the park. And for such a small, random movie this grim I'm hoping it will do well.
We've been hearing about this project for so many years I just assumed it wasn't actually going to happen, than when they announced Michael Parks last week I started to get excited but after the casting notices we got earlier, I am going to be following this a lot closer and will be sure to post here whatever I find.
Briefly: Last time we heard about Kevin Smith’s ‘religious horror’ film Red State, the cast was being assembled and Kevin Pollack had been offered a role. Now things have moved right along, and the film is actually shooting. Cameras started to roll this week, and just in time for that milestone, Smith has added another name to the cast: John Goodman.
The cast also includes Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding), Kyle Gallner (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Michael Angarano (The Forbidden Kingdom), and Stephen Root (Office Space). Michael Parks will be playing the lead role inspired by Fred Phelps. Melissa Leo (Frozen River) had been up for a part, and while we haven’t seen explicit confirmation that she’s good to go, recent cast round-ups keep listing her, so let’s hope that’s a ‘yes’.
The film is about a group of kids encountering a crazy fundamentalist preacher based on Fred Phelps, leader of the band of real-world nutso jerkoffs known as the Westboro Baptist Church.
John Goodman helps but hot women would help a lot more, especially after the disaster that was Cop Out.
To be fair, I think Cop Out's problems stem more from the script than Smith. I mean the man has made some 6 of my favorite movies, out of the 8 he's directed so far. That's a pretty good track record
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Kevin Smith’s Red State
Maybe just a very grim story.
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