There was a time when Clerks helmer Kevin Smith threatened to quit making movies altogether. Thankfully, that dark day has long since passed, and he’s on track to take the cinematic world by storm once more. Since the release of his walrus horror epic, Tusk, Smith’s mojo has returned in full force. Turns out, the divisive body horror was actually a key factor in securing financing for the director’s trilogy-closer, Clerks III and a stream of movies set to follow. One of which is his long-anticipated hockey project, Hit Somebody.
Following a recent chat with the guys over at /Film, the filmmaker shed light on the movie’s status. During the conversation, Smith regaled the site with the ins-and-outs of how Hit Somebody finally bagged financing, and also when its slated to shoot. The entire chunk is well worth a read, but here’s the ending snippet in which he outlines the facts:
“… And so we have two meetings and we met with our Canadian counterparts, ’cause we’re gonna shoot up a lot of it up North and then some of it in Michigan as well. But we were able to kind of pull the budget together. So in the fall of 2015, we head up to it looks like Northern Ontario and start shooting Hit Somebody.”
Sitting on Smith’s to-do list for a while, Hit Somebody has been in the running for years. so it’s heartening to hear it’s finally landed a shooting date. At first it was set up as a film, then it was split into two films, before Smith rewrote it as a miniseries. After a long stint away, it got relegated to the back of his mind to focus on his True North Trilogy.
Kickstarted by Tusk, his new loosely-linked series will continue with Yoga Hosers, which is currently wrapping up its shoot. Bringing back the Tusk cast, the second film shifts its focus to the two 15-year convenience store clerks who join forces with Guy LaPointe again to battle an ancient evil. Sounds awesome, yes?
Well, after taking a swing into his View Askew universe to shoot Clerks III, he’ll veer back to Canada for the True North trilogy finale – Moose Jaws. There’s no doubt that without the allure of this trio of new flicks, Hit Somebody might not have bagged a budget. Whether it will be a movie, or a series, or a movie series, it’ll be worth a watch given Smith’s love of the sport.