Kevin Smith is an overachiever; with Red State wrapped, cut, and in the promotional stage (via official podcast), he is simultaneously already at work on his next feature Hit Somebody. On the latest edition of one of his many shows Hollywood Babble-on, Smith officially announced the lead for his hockey comedy: Nicholas Braun. [Collider]
Braun, in addition to appearing in Smith’s Red State, also played the Joseph Gordon-Levitt role in ABC Family’s TV adaptation of 10 Things I Hate About You and is also one of the leads in Disney’s upcoming movie Prom (which actually looks surprisingly good).
Now if any of you have been following Hit Somebody, you may remember that Seann William Scott was originally tapped to star, but dropped out to do a different hockey movie, Goon, when Smith went to work on Red State first. Braun is quite a 180 from Scott; he’s younger, he’s not as well known, and he’s a lot gawkier. Still, I’m down with the casting decision, as I dug Braun in the 10 Things I Hate About You show (yeah, I’m the one person that watched it) and he looks like he’ll be just as funny in Prom.
Hit Somebody is currently been written, and Smith is aiming to start shooting next summer. The movie will focus around a guy named Buddy who isn’t that great at hockey, but he’s really good when he’s called to, wait for it, HIT SOMEBODY. Ha!
Meanwhile, Red State has been submitted to Sundance and Smith will be “auctioning it off for distribution that way, as /Film reports. They also reported that Donnie Darko and Southland Tales director Richard Kelly saw the film and had this to say:
“I have never seen a filmmaker reinvent himself the way you just have. I won’t say anything else because I don’t want to spoil anything. It’s really really exciting. If the movie ends up playing at Sundance, I might actually come up to just see the audience’s response. I can not wait…”
And if you can’t wait long enough for your Kevin Smith fix, head to the SModcast Podcast Network site and check out the show he does on a weekly basis.
Are you looking forward to Red State and eventually Hit Somebody?