Is Kevin Smith serious about Clerks III?

I think Hollywood accounting is so hard to unscramble that it would be nearly impossible for us to do it here.

I think the last couple things Smith touched have been considered disasters. Like 'Red State.'

I think Kevin Smith has largely marginalized himself in Hollywood. Whether by intention or not I don't know.

 

But any movie that makes money (or breaks even) is a success, because a whole lot of them don't. Smith on the whole is a very safe investment.

 

Red State was self-financed and self-distributed. Smith said it made a profit. If Clerks III happens, it will undoubtedly be structured similarly low-risk.

He also says he has removed himself from Hollywood studio movies on purpose. There's obviously room to assume he's lying or exaggerating that, but his goal for a couple of years has been going his own route with podcasts and other self-marketed stuff.

 

I don't know how "Red State" could be considered a disaster. He made it for $5 million. It didn't do well at the Box Office, ($1 million) but it opened on VOD, which was where I saw it... He's said it made $3 million on VOD, which I don't have a hard time believing... He's also said that he got $4 million tax incentive and claims it made money... I don't know if he's telling the truth or now, but it's not like his claims are that hard to believe... Who knows how it did on DVD.

Hardly a disaster by any stretch...

 

At this point, it's safe to say Smith's not going to cross over to the type of mainstream success Tarantino has found.
Does that make him a failure or mean that his movies are disasters? I guess opinions vary, but I say 'no' to both questions.

 

Of course, you have to measure revenue in relation to investment.

 

I've got nothing against Kevin Smith, and I understand the internet creates new opportunities for artists to monetize their own work, but phrased another way - i.e., "I made a movie for the tax credit that ran a week in one theater and then went straight to video and got a 58% 'fresh' rating at Rotten Tomatoes" - it sounds a little like a disaster.

 

QT's box office success with his last two films has been a very pleasant surprise...

 

Until recently, I thought 'Pulp Fiction' would be his only mainstream success.
I'm a big fan. I just never thought his stuff would ever have really broad appeal.

 

So first there was Clerks, then Clerks II, then Clerks X, and wasn't there a short-lived Clerks animated series in there somewhere? This guy's worse than Garth Brooks for repackaging the same old shit.

 

Smith needs to come up with a mysterious emo alter ego to direct his next movie.

 

Clerks X was an actual repackaging, though. The movie and music industries do that shit all the time, especially for anniversaries. There wasn't a new movie, just recut versions of the original and a few bonus features.