Kevin Smith has been saying for a while that decades-spanning hockey drama Hit Somebody will be his cinematic swan song, but now it looks like the movie will take a **Harry Potter-**style turn. No, the lead character won’t be battling Voldemort, but the story is so big that Smith plans to stretch it out across two films.
Speaking in Montreal in support of his Red Provinces Tour – the Canadian arm of his promotional blitz for horror movie Red State – Smith told the crowd that Hit Somebody will be two movies spanning Buddy McCracken (Nicholas Braun)’s journey from wannabe whelp to bruising stick legend.
Inspired by Warren Zevon’s eponymous song, the film has been loaded already with **Red State **alumni including Braun, Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, Kyle Gallner and John Goodman. Smith wants to get to work shooting it as soon as he can drum up the requisite financing, which may be tough for a bigger production.
Film School Rejects tracked Smith down to get the truth of the matter: “It’ll be one flick cleft in twain. Looking like part one ends at the close of Buddy’s first pro game, 1972-ish. Flick starts in 1954. Part 2 ends in 1980.”
Full marks there for his use of "cleft in twain". It all sounds like part of his continuing plan to confound his critics and satisfy himself without needing to listen to anyone else. “Everybody does trilogies. I’d rather end with a less predictable closer. Predictable would be Clerks III, but a two-part hockey epic that’s largely about Canada, featuring an all-star cast? That’ll have some scratching their heads and others saying ‘It’s kinda perfect.’”