Kevin Smith's 'Hit Somebody' back to one movie, eyes June shoot

Posted Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 11:56 AM Central

by John Couture

It's been a great while since we've checked in with our friend Kevin Smith, but rest assured that he's keeping busy. No, really, 2011 was an extremely busy one for the retiring film maker.

While it doesn't appear that he'll be slowing down any in 2012, what with a new reality TV show debuting on AMC on February 12, a slew of live podcast dates and one night of awesomeness beamed live into theaters across North America, there is one thing that is looming large for Kevin Smith in 2012.

This is the year that he will begin shooting his last movie Hit Somebody. That's right, I said movie. It seems that some things have changed and gotten firmed up since we reported last that the movie had been split into two movies.

Kevin hit one of his favorite means of communication Twitter to update a few things with Hit Somebody. First, he confirmed that the film is back to being one long flick and he's hoping to starting shooting mid 2012.

Via @pezwright "when do you start shooting Hit Somebody?" June, I'm thinking. Writing script two, but now gonna make one big movie instead.

Naturally, this little nugget (actually two) of information brought forth an avalanche of curious questions, including a few from yours truly. As is often the case, Kevin answered a few choice inquiries and in doing so let loose of a few more nuggets of information.

Via @VideoETA "Any guess as to TRT of the big version of HIT SOMEBODY? 150 minutes?" Max, w/ credits. I'm more of an editor than director...

Via @pezwright "Damn, was looking forward to the two parter. I assume a 2013 release then?" Looking to debut at Sundance 2013. Minus Phelps.

So, it seems that Hit Somebody will easily be Smith's longest film to date clocking in at a maximum run time of two hours and 30 minutes. While that might seem like a long time for Kevin Smith movie, you have to remember that this is more of a drama than a comedy and that running time would be consistent with other films similar to Hit Somebody.

The Sundance 2013 premiere is intriguing as we know that Kevin is a quick editor of his films, often editing them on the fly while he is still engrossed in principal photography. While it would be tempting to release Hit Somebody around the start of the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs in April, I'm not sure that Smith wouldn't want to compete with the early Summer releases like Iron Man 3 or Star Trek 12.

If I had to guess then, I think that Smith and company will wait and release Hit Somebody more at the start of the 2013-14 NHL season in October or November of 2013. This would allow him the opportunity to draft off the NHL and all the festivities surrounding the start of a new season. It also wouldn't hurt that the climes will be turning colder and there's just something right about going to see Hit Somebody with snow on the ground.

For those of you unfamiliar with the plot of Hit Somebody, it's based on a Warren Zevon song. I've embedded it below for your listening pleasure.