Kevin Smith Started His ‘Red State” Road Show Over The Weekend

Not the real Fred Phelps. A View Askew
Not the real Fred Phelps. A View Askew

Has it really only been just more than a month since Kevin Smith's orgy of self-gratification at Sundance? That was only the end of January? That seems like a year ago. Smith's pleas for attention tend to vanish from our minds once they're over. We like that our minds do that.

Smith's "traveling road show" of his film "Red State," which he notoriously "bought" for 20 bucks at Sundance, kicked off Saturday night at Radio City Music Hall. Smith showed the film and talked about it afterward with stars John Goodman and newly minted Oscar winner Melissa Leo. Because he has a $4 million budget to make back, he charged out the wazoo, with tickets ranging from $40 to $100. He reportedly earned $161,590 at the screening, minus a $60,000 rental fee of the theater. So only $3.9 million to go.

Smith has said he's retiring after he makes next year's "Hit Somebody," with "Red State" -- which garnered some more pub after the Supreme Court's decision last week on Fred Phelps (the inspiration for the film) protesting at military funerals -- opening wide in October. With those kind of thin profit margins, he may need to. Though if there are enough humans who will be $75 to see a Kevin Smith film, maybe the world's a lot different than we think it is.

Kevin Smith: I 'Feel Good' About Semi-Retirement [The Hollywood Reporter]