Wednesday brought confirmation from Variety that this is indeed Kevin Smith's next movie but it will be titled A COUPLE OF COPS and not A COUPLE OF DICKS. Once again, Smith has come victim of a studio pussy footing around the English language. You may remember, in some markets his last movie was called simply ZACK AND MIRI. Anyway, Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan are also confirmed for the movie which now has a slightly longer plot synopsis... "centered on a pair of cops who track down a stolen baseball card, rescue a Mexican beauty and must deal with gangsters and laundered drug money.
Kevin Smith, a better writer than director, that's the general consensus right? I would agree but that's not a knock against Smith because I think he's a mega talented writer. I'm not saying he is a hack director, or even a failing one. His last two movies CLERKS II and ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO have shown him grow as a filmmaker and I'm not surprised to hear reports today that he is lining up to direct someone elses script for the first time. According to
ERC Box Office (via
/film), Smith has become attached to A COUPLE OF DICKS, a Warner Bros. script from brothers Robb and Mark Cullen that was on the Hollywood blacklist of the best unproduced screenplays of 2008. Yes that's right, a Warner Bros. script... which means it would be Smith's first studio movie, his first film away from the Weinsteins/Miramax, which I'm not entirely surprised after the awful marketing of ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO. Word also is that Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, two actors who have a history with Smith (from LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD and JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK respectively) are now attached to star because of Smith's presence. Smith had been desperate to get his Indie horror RED STATE off the ground but it appears he is a few years away from getting that production completely up and running. Plenty of time then for a small studio flick and the opportunity to work with Bruce Willis again. The movie, which sounds like a Smith-esque concept goes like this...
"two veteran LAPD detectives attempt to track down a stolen, mint-condition, 1952 baseball card"
Warner Bros. want this movie out for January 2010.