Kevin Smith buys his own movie & will make the money back by touring it

[Christina]

What do youse think about this "sale" of Kevin Smith's movie at Sundance & this tour he's going to do w/this thing ... no advertising, $50+ tix, and a Q & A afterward?

I think people are totally gonna pay to see this & the thing will sell out - whether or not this actually means anything beyond pulling off a wild ass experiment is almost moot. I mean, it's like what Radiohead did w/In Rainbows - there's already a built in set of fans for it, right?

Or better yet, Kevin Smith movies are like Rush or Tool albums - the same number of dudes buy the new album every time. This is like going to the movie, buying the DVD & listening to the commentary track AND buying An Evening with Kevin Smith 3 all at once.

[Chris L]

It seems to me this is just like what David Lynch did with Inland Empire, to cite one example, except with more bloated ticket prices.

Or better yet, Kevin Smith movies are like Rush or Tool albums - the same number of dudes buy the new album every time. This is like going to the movie, buying the DVD & listening to the commentary track AND buying An Evening with Kevin Smith 3 all at once.

This.  His rant about how much money is wasted on marketing and promotion smells like self-serving bullshit. He's obviously just focusing ever narrower on his cult to the point where the movie is basically just the warm-up for the Q&A.  And what a charming movie it sounds like, even for him. 

[Pidgeon]

The last time I heard about this movie was when Myspace was still popular and I saw an ad or something for it there.

[roubaix]

Crispin Glover toured with his first film What Is It? for years, beginning around 2005.  He continues to tour, but now with the second film of this trilogy. 

Strangely he refuses to release any DVDs, he thinks he'll lose his some of his investment due to piracy. 

http://www.crispinglover.com/slideshow.htm

[yesno]

Crispin Glover toured with his first film What Is It? for years, beginning around 2005.  He continues to tour, but now with the second film of this trilogy. 

Strangely he refuses to release any DVDs, he thinks he'll lose his some of his investment due to piracy. 

http://www.crispinglover.com/slideshow.htm

Those movies have been in the hopper for a really long time.  I saw him with What is It? in 1997 or 1998, and the actor from It is Fine, released in 2007, died in 2001.

[Paul DeLouisiana]

I heard about this. But I thought I read that he was asking for 50 cookies at the screenings.

[Alex_from_the_woods]

Kevin Smith has gone into full-on P. T. Barnum mode. I guess this is all he has left...

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Filmmaker Kevin Smith went on a two-a-half-hour Twitter rant Monday, defending his decision to handle distribution for his religious horror film "Red State."
In the profanity-laced messages, he denied that he misled distributors at a Sundance screening Sunday night when he promised to auction off his $4 million movie after its premiere, only to buy it himself for $20.
"In the Tweet that launched a thousand angry bloggers, I VERY specifically said "... I plan to pick my distributor in the room — auction style..." Then, EVERYONE ELSE said I was selling the movie. But I never said that. Very specific wording," his message began.

 Hate pit! Hate pit! Hate pit!

[Stupornaut]

This is why people should be a bit quieter about the whole "geeks won!" triumphalism. Having this dude represent your Star Wars/comics fandom has to be some kind of pyrrhic victory.

[confound]

I just went into a bit of a Kevin Smith news hole. I did come back with this though:

"BY DARKKNIGHTSHYAMALAN on 01/24/2011 at 5:10pm
Here's the story in a nutshell:

From now on, Kevin Smith only wants his movies distributed by people who think he has talent.

Thus, his only choice is to self-distribute."

Also, this from KS:
"We want to partner up, man," he reportedly said. "We won't screw you over. We won't be like, 'You gotta f---ing take this piece of s---. If you want 'The Dark Knight,' you better take this piece of s--- 'Cop Out!'"

I can't believe somebody promised him Dark Knight or that he thinks he should direct it... wow!

[wood and iron]

I just went into a bit of a Kevin Smith news hole. I did come back with this though:

"BY DARKKNIGHTSHYAMALAN on 01/24/2011 at 5:10pm
Here's the story in a nutshell:

From now on, Kevin Smith only wants his movies distributed by people who think he has talent.

Thus, his only choice is to self-distribute."

Also, this from KS:
"We want to partner up, man," he reportedly said. "We won't screw you over. We won't be like, 'You gotta f---ing take this piece of s---. If you want 'The Dark Knight,' you better take this piece of s--- 'Cop Out!'"

I can't believe somebody promised him Dark Knight or that he thinks he should direct it... wow!

Actually, I think the last quote is referring to how movie studios force movie theaters to exhibit some of the shitty movies in order to get the better movies.

[confound]

Actually, I think the last quote is referring to how movie studios force movie theaters to exhibit some of the shitty movies in order to get the better movies.

Damn my skimming. His argument to the theater owners is that they just get Cop Out. Good deal.

I need to go on a Smith fast... I think I follow Kevin more than most of his real fans.

[Omar]

This latest outburst is further proof that Mr. Smith is mentally ill and needs help.  It's hard to decide whether laughing or crying is the appropriate response to his increasingly pathetic antics.

[masterofsparks]

This latest incident has completely erased the small amount of goodwill his WTF appearance had engendered in me.

[fish]

From Kevin Smith Announces Directing Retirement
(this is the whole blurb)

Director and genre geek Kevin Smith has announced via Sundance that his next film, the horror drama Red State will be self-distributed through his Smodcasts Pictures on October 19, 2011. While most show off their films at the famed festival to attract distributors, he made the trip to talk about plans with the film and a traveling show in which he will show off the release at various venues across the nation. The first such screening will be at March 5th at Radio City Music Hall.

Another revelation from Kevin Smith---one that caught many off-guard---was that after he wraps up his next film Hit Somebody, it would be his final directing project. He wants to focus his future on giving aspiring filmmakers a chance to have their projects shown on an upcoming expansion of Smodcasts Pictures.

[buffcoat]

I just have such a bad reaction to the word "Smodcast."  Is there anything that isn't wrong with that neologism?