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Speaking with NHL.com, hockey-fan and upcoming hockey-movie-director Kevin Smith revealed that Seann William Scott would be playing the lead role of "Buddy" in Hit Somebody.  The film is based on the Warren Zevon song of the same name with lyrics by Mitch Albom, the story tells of a hockey goon whose dream is to score just one goal.  Smith and Scott last worked together on Cop Out, which hits theaters on Friday.  Here's what Smith had to say about Scott:

"Seann Scott is such an ebullient, happy person who's just happy to be there. And on [Cop Out] you could see it. On our set the guy is just so delighted to be working, to be making people laugh. But he's always dismissed as Stifler. ... This is his chance to shine."

So that's kind of a fuck you to every other film Scott has done outside of the American Pie franchise.  I'm sure Smith didn't intend it that way, but it doesn't read well.  Then later in the interview he becomes even more grandiose about the movie, and you can read that after the jump.

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Here's Smith's cringe-worthy celebration of how Hit Somebody is going to take his career and Scott's to the next level:

"I look at this as Seann's opportunity to go to the (Tom) Hanks level," Smith said. "Hanks for years and years did this (lesser) role and then he became that (blockbuster movie) guy. This is Seann's chance to do that as well, not just be Stifler. And it's my chance to not just be the "Clerks" guy. It's my chance to do something big, epic in scale. Stories I tell span one day. ... This spans 30 years. You're talking a period. You're trying to bring people to a time in your life that hasn't existed in 30 years. The look of it, the feel of it, the sound of it -- everything I have is going to be in that movie."

That's some pretty big talk from a guy who's never directed a film that grossed more than $30 million at the box office (and I've heard from various folks that Cop Out isn't good).  As for Hanks, "years and years" may refer to the four years he did television.  His first movie, Splash, made $74 million.  And then only four years later he made Big, which is unarguably a blockbuster movie.

I would love for Smith to have a breakout success as a director, but I don't think it's going to happen.  The reason he's still known as "The Clerks-guy" is he's never evolved as a director or a writer.  And if he wanted to shake that stigma, he shouldn't have run back to do Clerks II when Jersey Girl flopped.  If you look at Smith's contemporaries, they've all left him in the dust and I think he's found more success as a speaker, with his speaking engagements and Smodcast, than as a filmmaker.  Maybe Hit Somebody will be an exciting new chapter in Smith's career, but right now, his little scuffle with Southwest Airlines is about as exciting as it gets.