It was just about a year ago that Kevin Smith announced that his upcoming hockey comedy Hit Somebody would mark his final film as a director. At the time, he said that his "retirement" from directing would allow him to focus on helping other people get movies made, presumably as a producer. Since then we've only had a couple of major updates about Hit Somebody, most notably back in August when he said he'd be splitting it into two movies, Kill Bill style. Now another six months have passed, and today Smith sent out an update via his Twitter feed: it's back to one movie again, but now it will be one really long movie. Here's the post:
For those not keeping score, Hit Somebody tells the story of a Canadian farm boy who discovers he has a special talent for hockey violence. He eventually goes pro, but becomes dissatisfied with his job of slamming the crap out of people on the ice; he wants some of the glory, maybe to actually score a goal for once. If it all sounds vaguely familiar, it's because Hit Somebody is an adaptation of the Warren Zevon song of the same name. You can take a listen at the bottom of this post.
Smith still hasn't recanted his plans to retire from directing after he makes Hit Somebody. I realize his career has been an easy target for critics, and Smith has often invited the snark with stunts like the Sundance Red State fiasco and his frequent Twitter rants. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the guy, but this whole retirement thing just feels like he's taking his ball (or puck) and going home, especially now, when the internet and emerging media is making it easier than ever for creative folks to find an audience outside of the traditional ways. Why not figure out new and interesting ways to take advantage of that?
