Kevin Smith has his fifteenth and sixteenth feature films on the way, with Killroy Was Here releasing as an NFT in an interesting marketing experiment before the end of the year, while production on Clerks III wrapped at last month. Only once has he ever worked as a director-for-hire, and it turned out to be the worst experience of his career.
2010’s dismal buddy movie Cop Out is also the sole entry in Smith’s filmography that he didn’t write, and he’s admitted more than once that he’ll never be making the same mistake again. The project was panned by critics and flopped at the box office, even if a $55 million haul is still enough to make it the 51 year-old’s highest-grossing effort ever.
The only memorable thing about Cop Out remains the well-publicized disagreements between Smith and star Bruce Willis, which have long since become the stuff of legend. In his new book Kevin Smith’s Secret Stash: The Definitive Visual History, the View Askewniverse creator had some harsh words for the Die Hard icon.
“Cop Out could have been a great experience if it were not for the fact that I met true darkness in Bruce Willis. I love making movies and he does not, at all.”
At various points Smith has described collaborating with Willis as “soul-crushing”, and blasted his leading man at the wrap party he didn’t even bother to attend, toasting the cast and crew by saying “I want to thank everyone who worked on the film, except for Bruce Willis, who is a f*cking dick”. Clearly, Smith’s memories of Cop Out haven’t softened over time based on his latest harsh words for the fallen A-lister.