Kevin Smith to make horror film without Weinsteins.

From Kevin Smith's blog:

When we land in La Guardia, I get phone call from Weinstein Company exec Michael Cole who tells me about a meeting he and Harvey took with our potential Zack’s agent. He also drops the bomb, which doesn’t really explode so much as lay there, as Scott and I were pretty much expecting it…

Harvey and Bob are passing on “Red State.”

It’s the first time Harvey and Bob have passed on anything I’ve wanted to do, but if they were gonna pass on anything, this’d be the one to do it on. The only explanation Michael gives me is “Harvey thought it was more of a Bob flick and then Bob didn’t get it. They’d rather just concentrate on ‘Zack and Miri’ at the moment, which we’re all pumped about.”

Naturally, this makes me wanna make “Red State” even more than I did just prior to that phone call. I get excited thinking about having to raise financing for our hot potato of a flick. This represents a turning point of sorts for Scott and I, inasmuch as everything (with the exception of “Mallrats”) has been made with the Weinsteins. It might be nice to see if we can get something done without them. Whether it’ll be nice or not, however, it’s what’s in the cards, as they don’t feel the flick is very commercial. And, in truth, on the surface, it may not be - unless we get the buzz I think we’ll get off the festival circuit. Regardless, it’s not something we’ll have to think about ’til after we’re done with “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”

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How ironic. This is the first horror movie news story I have ran in a while wherein the Weinstein brothers *were not* involved. Seems like they're eager to stick their thumb into anyone's pie these days, so long as said pie was filled with blood and guts. Kinda gross, but true.

Perhaps that bodes well for Smith's Red State. Alot of the movies Bob and Harvey have gotten lately are kinda crappy (DOA anyon?) Also, maybe Red State is not a very bloody film on the script level. It's unfortunate that bloody equals scary in most people's book these days, but if Smith has the balls to get out there in the numb, torture-porn market of today and do is own thing, well, props for him I say. I am also delighted to read that Smith is leaving the Weinstein nest of comfort for the first time since his underrated Mallrats, which he produced with Universal. If there's one thing that can be said of all of Smith's films after Chasing Amy, it's that they were all fairly 'safe' productions. While in some ways his last three movies were different, they were also strangely similar or filled with a lot of the same people in their casts. I wish Smith the best on this project, and since it's supposedly set in the south, maybe he will take advantage of our locations, low cost of living, and tax breaks, and shoot it here in NC.

However, if Red State is just another southern-people-as-inbred-cannibals movie a la Texas Chainsaw, I am going to be very pissed.