Kevin Smith’s Best Film Is Finally Getting A Sequel
Kevin Smith has revealed that he is working on Red State 2 in partnership with Lionsgate.
Kevin Smith has steadily been working his way through sequels for some of his best films, however, he is now working on a sequel to his absolute best: Red State. The highly controversial film took shots at the Westboro Baptist Church, which is a highly controversial religious collective. Smith spoke about Lionsgate getting the copyright back from the two financers that released the movie in tandem with the film company, and how the copyright has since fallen back to Lionsgate.
According to Kevin Smith, “They were like if we do this, would you do it again? And I was like, yeah, in a heartbeat. […] I mean, obviously, Michael Parks is gone, But it’s just a story of crazy people with guns and s*** like that […] As long as I could use John Goodman again.”
John Goodman is great in anything he does, though it is a little sad that Michael Parks will not be joining the sequel, as he has sadly passed away. Kevin Smith stated that he is fully on board with making this anticipated sequel, and with his already-established relationship with Lionsgate, it appears the man could also provide the world with many more sequels of his other off-the-wall features.
Lionsgate was the studio that put out Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, which Kevin Smith stated had so many sales in DVD purchases that it led to the studio reaching out for Smith to produce and release Clerks 3. We would imagine that Clerks 3 is also doing quite well in sales for Lionsgate to now propose releasing a Red State 2. Lionsgate and Smith have forged a relationship that could prove to be quite fruitful for years to come and will allow Smith to explore some of his deeper catalogs to direct some highly-asked-about sequels.
The Red State Kevin Smith film follows a group of three teenagers who engage in speaking with a woman in an online chat room, which holds the promise of a sexual encounter with Sarah. When the boys are lured to a house by Sarah, she drugs them, and they wake up bound and come face to face with Sarah’s father Abin Cooper (Michael Parks). The boys realize they are now in the clutches of the Five Points Trinity Church, which is a fanatical conservative church that believes the rapture is coming.
The film was certainly far from anything that Kevin Smith had produced or directed before, as most of his other entries were stoner comedies, ones that made Jay and Silent Bob household names. Red State offered a much different look at Smith’s ability to drive forward tension. This is something he replicated with Tusk, which also starred Michael Parks, and is being targeted for a sequel as well.
While most people certainly want Kevin Smith to continue his View Askew universe that involves Jay and Silent Bob, us included, it is good that he is being able to branch out and focus more on some of his best and most underrated ventures. Red State is an unsung hero of his catalog and one that certainly bares some revisiting. Though Parks is now dead, his character’s family is full of people that can rise and provide the same level of maniacal religious fandom.
