On March 21^st, Collider was invited along with a handful of other outlets to the set of the new CBS Films comedy Get A Job, directed by Dylan Kidd (Rodger Dodger) and following four recent college graduates (played by Miles Teller, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Brandon T. Jackson and Nicholas Braun) who discover that their lofty expectations and the realities of adulthood are two very different things.

While we’ll post what he had to say about making that film closer to its release, which is expected to be sometime next year, we did want to share what actor Nicholas Braun had to say about his lead role in Kevin Smith’s hockey film Hit Somebody.  Check out what he had to say about the script after the jump:

We have a couple of bits of casting news to send your way tonight.  First up, Kevin Smith has announced that Kyle Gallner (Red State) will play a character similar to “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky in Smith’s upcoming hockey-film Hit Somebody.  Per Cinema Blend, Gallner will make a turn as a budding hockey star who is just entering the NHL.  The actor joins a cast that already includes fellow Red State co-stars Nicholas Braun and Ralph Garman.  Speaking of Red State, the film is scheduled to debut at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival which runs January 20th-30th.

Next up, Golden Globe-winner Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) has signed on to star alongside Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the horror/thriller Dibbuk Box.  Directed by Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch), Dibbuk Box tells the story of a family who discovers that a mysterious box they purchased at a yard sale contains a spirit that is determined to “devour its human host.”  According to Deadline, Sedgwick will play the mother of the child who becomes attached to the death box.  Dibbuk Box is currently slated for a Halloween release on October 28th.

While Kevin Smith recently wrapped filming (and completed a first cut) of his horror film Red State, he’s also looking ahead to his hockey-centered film that will be his follow-up. Hit Somebody is a script that Smith has been working on for a while, that’s based on the Warren Zevon song of the same name, with lyrics written by Mitch Albom.  Via his most recent edition of his Hollywood Babble-On podcast with Ralph Garman, Smith revealed that he’s found his lead in actor Nicholas Braun, who Smith recently worked with on Red State. In fact, Smith said that he found “so much of [his Hit Somebody] cast making Red State,” so expect to see a few familiar faces once Hit Somebody rolls around (including podcast co-host and Red State cast member Garman, Smith confirms). Smith had this to say about casting Braun as his lead:

He’s this really really great actor who I love to death and he is the perfect lead for this script…he’s such a good guy, he’s a sweetheart and he’s fuckin so dope in [Red State]

Braun’s credits include Sky High and the short-lived TV series 10 Things I Hate About You. He’ll next be seen in the upcoming high-school dramedy from Disney, Prom.  Seann William Scott was previously attached to star in Hit Somebody after working with Smith on Cop Out, but chose to star in Jay Baruchel’s hockey comedy Goon instead when Smith decided to film Red State first.  For more on Smith’s upcoming projects, including more info on the plot of Red State, hit the jump.

Kevin Smith seems to be in his Dalai Lama period. After years getting in much publicized rows with critics and the internet, his attitude toward movies and life at once seems more hardened and more accepting. “I don’t need people to validate me anymore,” Smith says. “I did at one point, but I don’t now.” Smith’s secret? “I started smoking weed at thirty eight. I highly recommend it.”

Collider was recently invited to a special screening of Kevin Smith’s new comedy special for EPIX, Too Fat for 40. After an extended clip of the special, Smith treated the group to a Q&A in which the cult director discussed his life, his approach to comedy and his views on the world in general.

The special is somewhere between a real stand up show and the popular Evening with Kevin Smith series. “[About the Evening with Kevin Smith series] one guy on the internet said, ‘he’s so conceited, he has three DVDs of him talking’. So I was like ‘fuck that guy, I’m not going to do them any more’. But that is so stupid. To spite some guy who’s not even into it. So when Epix called, it was great. I had three years’ worth of stories built up.”  Continued after the jump:

Earlier today, Collider was invited to a special screening of Too Fat for 40, Kevin Smith’s new comedy special for EPIX. After an extended clip, Smith treated the group to a Q&A, some of which shed light on his upcoming horror movie Red State, as well as other projects.

“Visually speaking, it’s the most ambitious movie we’ve ever made,” Smith said. “Everybody’s pulling their belts, taking a massive pay cut. Some of us might not even get paid… and it breaks my heart that after all this we’ll just sell it to a studio that’ll spend twice as much on marketing as we spent to make it.”

More on Red State, his hockey movie Hit Somebody, and what’s up with the Clerks: The Animated Series after the jump:

A couple weeks ago I was invited to participate in a roundtable interview with writer/director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) to discuss the special edition Bluray release of his latest film Cop Out. While the focus of the roundtable was supposed to be the Cop Out Bluray’s Maximum Comedy Mode feature, Smith was very open to talk about many other topics. In fact, Smith extended our 15 minute interview in to a 45 minute interview. Put it this way: Smith is a publicist’s nightmare.

During our interview, Smith spoke not only about Cop Out and Maximum Comedy Mode (MCM) but also about Twitter, Comic Con, 3D, his upcoming projects and more. Look for several self-deprecating and brutally honest comments from Smith – he even talks about the “Southwest incident” and discusses the harsh critical reaction to Cop Out. It’s a great interview. Continue reading to read the full interview. Cop Out hits Bluray and DVD on Tuesday July 20.

Last week I was invited to participate in a roundtable interview with Kevin Smith. While our 15 minute roundtable interview was supposed to revolve around the upcoming Cop Out Blu-ray and DVD release, Smith was kind enough to allow our interview to go a full half hour longer than planned so we could ask him about numerous topics, including his upcoming projects. Look for the full interview soon but first check out some updates from Smith on his future projects.

• Smith says he wants to keep all casting news and major announcements for Red State secret. He says that after the Southwest incident he has no interest in ever seeing his name in a newspaper again and would rather the audience learn first hand about the cast then make a big announcement.
• Smith wants actors who aren’t totally unknown but actors who the audience shouldn’t recognize.
• Smith says that for the first time in his career he has the ability to cast major A-list “legends” in Red State but has no desire to.
• Smith says he’s still writing Hit Somebody and he’s on page 81.

Continue reading for full quotes on Smith’s future projects and make sure to check back soon for the full interview to see what Smith has to say about the Cop Out Blu-ray and the very cool “Maximum Comedy Mode” featured on the disc, his thoughts on 3D and Twitter and much more. Cop Out hits Blu-ray and DVD July 20.

Most Kevin Smith fans have listened to the director discuss his intent to make Red State for ages now, and most non-fans should heed that it’s not your average Kevin Smith flick before they tune out.  Smith describes Red State as a “political horror movie, essentially.”

The original plan had Smith lensing in July, though now the New Jerseyan says production will begin in August.  Any news that it’s officially on the books is encouraging.  More after the jump:

Kevin Smith has announced via his Twitter that he will make his long-in-development horror movie Red State this July before moving on to his hockey film Hit Somebody starring Sean William Scott.

Smith has been trying to get Red State for the past three years, but it’s not difficult to see why he had difficulty selling it when he described it as, “so bleak that it makes The Dark Knight look like Strawberry Shortcake.”  In an interview from 2007, Smith said it’s based on Westboro Baptist Church leader Fred Phelps.  If you’re unfamiliar with them, click on their Wikipedia page and know that they’re some of the worst people to ever slither the planet.

Hit the jump to read what Smith had to say about the film back in ’07, but know that it’s highly-possible that the script now could be wildly different from what he had back then.  In an odd twist, it may even be more relevant now with the rise of the racist and homophobic tea party movement.

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.

In a recent segment on the online talk show “Mitch Albom Live”, everyman director Kevin Smith talks with host and modern-day Renaissance man Mitch Albom about his upcoming hockey flick Hit Somebody, based on the song of the same name written by Albom about a decade ago for singer Warren Zevon. Essentially, the interview is 10 minutes of Smith and Albom (who will co-write the film) walking around Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings, talking about Smith’s passion for the game and his reasons for wanting to make the film. There aren’t too many specific details given and it seems like they’re still early on in the process, but you get the impression that things are moving forward and that he expects to be in production before too long. The one thing that does seem to be for certain at this point is that once he does get rolling, Smith will be filming in Michigan at Joe Louis Arena itself. Overall, it’s a charming little piece and if you’re a fan of Kevin Smith, you’ll probably dig it.

Hit the jump for the interview.

In a recent interview, writer/director Kevin Smith reveals some details about his next movie, the hockey flick, “Hit Somebody”.  It’s a film that grows out of Smith’s new direction following his post-Zack & Miri-epiphany and how we’ll start to see that new direction in his upcoming film, the buddy-cop comedy, “A Couple of Dicks” starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan.  Hit the jump to read what Smith had to say about “Hit Somebody” as well as a hint that Grand Geek of the Interwebs Wil Wheaton may have a role in the film.

Kevin Smith has been talking up a couple of different projects over the past few years.  The one project which sounded the most interesting to me was his “horror film”, “Red State”.  Smith has described the film as being very bleak, very dramatic. and has said that it would be a big departure for him.  Not much is known in terms of the films plot other than it would be inspired by a Fred Phelps like character and would be set in, what I’m guessing, would be a red state.

For awhile the project was thought to be dead after Smith was unable to find funding for the project.  The film’s future looked even worse after Smith announced that he would like to tackle his hockey film, “Hit Somebody”, next.  However, thanks to a recent interview it looks like “Red State” might not be dead after all.  You can find out how it might be the next film for the director when you click on the jump.