From the Los Angeles Times
SCRIPTLAND
After six little words, Harvey Weinstein is sold
By Jay A. Fernandez
Special to The Times
June 6, 2007
It's rarely a good idea to greenlight a movie off of a title alone (unless it includes the words "Pirates" and "Caribbean"). That's like falling in love with a MySpace photo.
But when Harvey Weinstein pulled the trigger on the latest raunchy comedy idea from "Dogma" and "Clerks II" writer-director Kevin Smith after Smith had written only six words of it, Weinstein's $15 million looked like a pretty good bet.
The title? "Zack and Miri Make a Porno."
For a certain stripe of moviegoer, that's a sure thing.
"A bawdy sex comedy with heart," as Smith describes the just-completed script, "Zack and Miri" is about two friends who have managed to trudge into their 30s with a satisfying lack of accomplishment. But a 15-year high school reunion and dire rent problems spark the novel moneymaking idea of pulling together an amateur porn enterprise. As for where it goes from there, just think of Smith's characteristic sexual verbosity finally coupled with matching imagery.
"It's ... dirty, with nudity," says Smith. "But funny nudity, not gratuitous nudity." Well, leave it to Smith to choose a plotline that kneecaps the issue entirely. (The civilians-making-a-blue-movie conceit also drove the narrative of writer-director Michael Traeger's "The Amateurs," which played festivals last year.) Because the story unfolds during a snowy Minnesota winter, Smith plans to film "Zack and Miri" there in February (although, Smith jokes, global warming may force him to shoot at one of the poles).
In the intervening months, Smith is publishing a book of reprinted blog entries from SilentBobSpeaks.com called "My Boring Ass Life." And he hopes to squeeze in filming of his low-budget ($3 million) horror script, "Red State," by the end of the year. Smith is aiming to give the politically charged screenplay, about outsiders who stumble into "fundamentalism gone to the extreme" in Middle America, a naturalistic, drive-in feel.
"Horror is more than a dude with a chain saw," says Smith, who engaged the Christian right promotional machine for the release of "Dogma." Given his rabid fan base, Smith is keeping the screenplay on lockdown at his Hollywood Hills home, so agents, actors and executives have needed a personal invitation to see it. Rosario Dawson, a "Clerks II" star, is supposed to give it a read this week.
After her vampy turns in "Sin City" and "Grindhouse," it sounds like a perfect trilogy.
Seth Rogen set to 'Make a Porno'
'Knocked Up' star cast in Kevin Smith film
Source: Variety
Seth Rogen has inked to play the titular Zack in writer-director Kevin Smith's "Zack & Miri Make a Porno" for the Weinstein Co. and Dimension Films. Elizabeth Banks will star opposite Rogen as Miri.
Film reunites the pair, who appeared together in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."
Story revolves around two lifelong platonic friends who are deep in debt and enlist the help of their friends to make a porn pic for some quick cash. But Zack and Miri realize that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.
Scott Mosier is producing. Shooting is scheduled to begin in January in Pittsburgh.
Film marks the seventh time Smith has collaborated with Bob and Harvey Weinstein -- a relationship that began 13 years ago with "Clerks."
Rogen's recent credits include "Knocked Up" and "Superbad." Banks recently appeared in "Invincible."
odd. i don't think he can redeem kevin smith, but its noble of him to try. i wonder how his improving constantly will sit with kevin's very specific dialogue or if there will be major beef.
Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks Are Ideal 'Porno' Stars, Says Kevin Smith
'It's very, very raunchy but with a sweet twist to it,' Rogen says of Smith's upcoming 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno.'
Source: MTV
The recent announcement that Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are set to join Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" may give us at MTV one more reason to count our blessings — just one week after we named Rogen the actor we're most thankful for in 2007.
OK, make that two reasons.
"You might see my ass again," Rogen joked of his role as Zack in the upcoming Smith comedy, which centers on a pair of twentysomethings who decide to shoot an amateur porn film to make money. "Am I working up to [frontal nudity]? I don't know."
"We definitely have a shot [like that] in this movie," Smith laughed. "It's not his, but if he wants to try to upstage what we'll see onscreen, that'd be awesome!"
It's all laughs these days for Smith now that he's landed two fast-rising stars for the roles of Zack and Miri. Rogen's casting in particular is especially gratifying, the director admitted, considering he wrote the titular role specifically for the "Knocked Up" star — and then spent an entire summer worried he wouldn't get him.
"After 'Knocked Up' came out, I was like, 'Ugh, he's on to bigger and better things,' " Smith said of Rogen's rise to fame. "I figured we were kind of dead in the water, but patience and perseverance prevailed, and he came onboard. It was stunning but wonderful.
"From the moment that dude started talking in '40-Year-Old Virgin' about watching a horse show, I was like, 'Oh, this guy's fantastic,' " Smith continued, gushing. "I just loved his delivery. [I thought] he would fit in the world of what we do very well."
For Rogen, fresh off his very successful summer, entering Smith's View Askewniverse seemed a natural transition.
"I feel like my strengths were always kind of ripping off a Kevin Smith movie anyway. It's not a far departure," Rogen said. "I read it and I loved it. It's very, very raunchy but with a sweet twist to it. It's very much in the style of the movies we've been doing but brought to a whole new level of filth. It's just a really great script."
While Smith hounded Rogen, Banks (another "40-Year-Old Virgin" scene-stealer) came to the project only after Rosario Dawson, for whom the director originally wrote the role of Miri, backed out of the project to film "Eagle Eye" for producer Steven Spielberg. But Smith couldn't be happier with how the casting turned out.
"If Rosario had stayed in, I wouldn't have thought past her, but when she took the Spielberg movie, suddenly it was like, 'All right, where do we go?' " Smith recalled of what led him to Banks. "That kind of left us wide open and, oddly enough, casting Banks turned out to be this insanely genius move. I haven't seen one negative reaction to it. Online, people are going, 'Yes, finally she's getting a role like this.' "
According to Smith, it's not hard to see why.
"If you see her stuff with David Wain and the 'Stella' guys, if you've seen her in 'Wet Hot American Summer,' you know she's f---ing funny," Smith said. "It's not very often that you find a woman who's as pretty as Elizabeth who can also be funny and just kind of take the piss out of herself."
As a lecturer, blogger and frequent interview subject, Smith is known for being remarkably candid and open about his upcoming projects. But now that he's got his two principal stars for "Zack and Miri," the director told MTV News that he's ready to clam up a little, momentarily falling short of fan expectations — so he can subvert them later.
"What's kind of daunting about the flick is because of the title, people know more about it already than they have about most of the stuff I've done in the past — or at least think they do," Smith said. "They have a movie in their head, but the one in my head is probably different than theirs. I mean, can you believe there's not one fluffer joke in the entire movie?"
One of the additional burdens of including "Make a Porno" in the title of a movie, Smith laughed, is the characters who suddenly come to his aid, claiming expertise.
"There have been a lot of people who have come out of the woodwork from the adult-film industry to offer their help," Smith said. "But the movie's not really about the adult-film industry. Yes, the word 'porno' is in the title and, yes, they are trying to make a porno — but these are rank amateurs."
"I did my research for that with 'Clerks,' " Smith added, so don't expect him to do any additional studying.
"When you're married, you don't take that call," he deadpanned. "You're already pushing it when you tell your wife it's called 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno.' "
Smith, Rogen and Banks start making their "Porno" January 16.
More sign on to 'Make a Porno'
"The Office's" Craig Robinson and former porn star Traci Lords have joined Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks and Jason Mewes in Kevin Smith's "Zack & Miri Make a Porno."
Ricky Mabe (ABC Family's "Beautiful People"), Jeff Anderson ("Clerks II") and Katie Morgan (HBO's "Katie Morgan: A Porn Star Revealed") have also joined the film, which is being produced through The Weinstein Co. and Dimension Films. Production is set to begin Wednesday.
The story centers around two lifelong friends -- Zack and Miri -- who after finding themselves deep in debt enlist their friends to make a pornographic movie with the goal of earning some quick cash.
Michael Cole and Carla Gardini are overseeing the project for TWC and Dimension Films.
when i was 17 i wrote a short script about a debt-ridden single mom/waitress who had no other choice but to do a sleazy porno for some much needed bill money. it's one of those stupid concepts you only find in bad novels and first screenplays... and kevin smith movies.
Quote from: ©MBBrad on January 16, 2008, 08:50:51 AM
it's one of those stupid concepts you only find in bad novels and first screenplays
I wrote something like that too when I was about 19 or 20. I think my guy wanted to pay for his wedding by shooting a porno but I stopped when Orgazmo came out. I wonder how many of us have written porn-based scripts in our time.
I haven't but I know someone who has~~
it was a first year film school lebowski meets bicycle thief porn making movie.
Trailer here. (http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/)
somebody watch that for me. thanks in advance.
Quote from: Hedwig on May 30, 2008, 01:21:43 AM
somebody watch that for me. thanks in advance.
I took one for the team. No actual footage from the film, just Rogen and Banks casting for their porno. Really weirdly lit...talk of bleached assholes and the shape of someone's shit...Good to have you back Kevin.
Kevin Smith's 'Porno' gets R rating
Filmmaker wins appeal to drop NC-17 designation
Associated Press
Filmmaker Kevin Smith has won an appeal to gain an R rating for his comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," which previously had received an NC-17 adults-only designation.
Elizabeth Kaltman, spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Association of America, said Tuesday the rating was revised after the group's appeals board viewed the movie.
The NC-17 rating would have prohibited anyone younger than 17 from seeing the movie. With an R rating, those under 17 can see it in the company of an adult.
"Zack and Miri," due out Oct. 31 from the Weinstein Co., stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as best friends and roommates who try to make a homemade porn flick to dig themselves out of debt.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpopwatch.ew.com%2Fphotos%2Funcategorized%2F2008%2F09%2F02%2Fzachmiripornposter_l.jpg&hash=f4e32ea479112897edc26b541a0aca8579904093)
TRAILER: http://www.askmen.com/video/2008_apr/apr02.html
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. this looks like it might actually be good. :crazyeyes:
Quote from: modage on September 03, 2008, 09:58:13 AM
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. this looks like it might actually be good. :crazyeyes:
Agreed. I laughed during a Kevin Smith trailer...this has thrown my whole day for a loop.
Except I wish that part of his journey toward rejuvenation involved leaving behind the Star Wars jokes, personally, and if Star Wars becomes some serious plot point or crux I'm going to walk out.
Personally. I actually really like Kevin Smith. It's serious Star Wars fans I have an unfortunately low tolerance for. And while I can be peaceful with them in real life the idea of serious Star Wars fans playing people who are serious Star Wars fans reenacting Star Wars scenes in sexual parody might exceed my limit. You see otherwise it'll be like watching a movie made by a group of friends who are making private in-jokes about something which you have no knowledge but they find hilarious. That's kind of the trajectory Smith's films have gone in, generally, and I hope for the Smith who made films for himself and not for his fanbase. The trailer sort of catered to the same ViewAskew audience.
But it's only a trailer. Maybe that's the complete total of all Star Wars jokes made in the movie.
It's still too smithy to be good. I'll probably watch it and I'll probably even laugh a few times, but it won't be good.
I'm surprised that the MPAA let them have that poster.
They didn't - it got denied.
Thank God somebody's still thinking of the children!
Quote from: RegularKarate on September 03, 2008, 01:14:37 PM
It's still too smithy to be good. I'll probably watch it and I'll probably even laugh a few times, but it won't be good.
Looks like a Smith film (poorly) masquerading as an Apatow film. Pass.
Friends made the "Lawrence of A-Labia" joke years ago. And some guy somewhere made the same joke years before that.
Quote from: Ravi on September 03, 2008, 02:29:46 PM
Looks like a Smith film (poorly) masquerading as an Apatow film. Pass.
Friends made the "Lawrence of A-Labia" joke years ago. And some guy somewhere made the same joke years before that.
Ding.
And yeah, went through the porno name phase a long time ago. Hope it's not too prevalent here.
Although, I have to say, I did laugh. Reminded me of those scenes in Boogie, in the restaurant, at the end of the trailer. But yeah, those Apatow posters are dead to me.
Green Ban version here. (http://movies.yahoo.com/premieres/9587634/standardformat/)
A friend of mine was a camera intern on this and as a gift for his hard work, they gave him the HVX that they used to shoot the porno scenes. I think he said there are real porn stars in the film. Either way "too smithy" summed it up for me, the trailer is all I'll need.
I still dont know if this is good or bad, but I laughed by ass non stop for 90 minutes!
Its really just a combination of scenes with all sorts of wrong stuff in dialogue, shots, actions, you name it. I had a lot of fun, and so did a huge audience present at the theatre here in Toronto. Even the R rating seems wrong for this.
The actors, my favorite here was Craig Robinson. He was amazing and hilarious. Seth Rogen and Banks were great too, and Justin Long is becoming one of those guys that can own a movie with a little supporting part (this, The Break Up, and a couple others for sure).
The best part was Kevin Smith's Q&A after the film. He said it really felt like making porn and its something he always wanted to do (also there are some porn stars in the film), that he is used to working with non-actors ("I've worked with the Affleck for 10 years"), and that his new movie will be so dark and scary that "it will make The Dark Knight look like the fucking Smurfs".
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogsmithmedia.com%2Fwww.cinematical.com%2Fmedia%2F2008%2F09%2Fzackandmiriposter-%283%29.jpg&hash=a8a19716044ff596f1dd89addde3cd8526708fb1)
`Porno' proves a five-letter word for movie's ads
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kevin Smith made a movie with such a bothersome title he cannot even place ads for it in some places.
Some newspaper, TV and outdoor ads for Smith's comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" have been rejected because of their content or the five-letter word that ends the title, said Gary Faber, head of marketing for the Weinstein Co., which is releasing the film.
Among those refusing to carry ads are about 15 newspapers and several TV stations and cable channels, Faber said. Commercials for the film during Los Angeles Dodgers games on Fox Sports were dropped at the team's request after some viewers complained, said Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch.
One complaint came from a man watching a game in September with his young son, who did not understand a suicide-squeeze bunt the Dodgers tried, Rawitch said.
"He was explaining to his son what a squeeze bunt was. Commercial break, the ad comes on, and the kid asks, `Dad, what does porno mean?'" Rawitch said. "Dodgers baseball has always been about family, and we've always been sensitive to the type of advertising that runs on our games."
The city of Philadelphia refused "Zack and Miri" posters at bus stops. Similar posters at Boston bus stops have drawn complaints from a child-development expert who said they are inappropriate for children.
Smith found it ironic that the posters have been a problem. Some playfully risque ads with images of "Zack and Miri" stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks were forbidden by the Motion Picture Association of America, which called the ads "highly sexually suggestive and not suitable for general audiences."
So Weinstein came up with posters using stick figures to represent the actors.
"The whole idea was, our hands were so tied on all previous entries we'd given them that this ad was meant to be the innocuous one that would get approved everywhere," Smith said.
Rina Cutler, Philadelphia deputy mayor for transportation, said the stick-figure posters were cute and clever but unacceptable for bus shelters where schoolchildren would see the word "porno."
"If they want to call the movie `Zack and Miri,' that's fine, but Zack and Miri cannot make a porno on my bus shelters," Cutler said.
Opening Oct. 31, "Zack and Miri" features Rogen and Banks as platonic best buddies and roommates who decide to make their own skin flick to dig themselves out of debt.
Diane Levin, an education professor specializing in child development at Boston's Wheelock College, said the posters at city bus stops send a message to children that working in the porn industry is an acceptable occupation.
"It's drawing attention to a movie which is mainstreaming and normalizing pornography, saying if you need money, this is what you do," said Levin, co-author of "So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids."
The stick-figure images are especially appealing to youngsters, since "stick figures are something for children," she said.
Weinstein marketing boss Faber countered: "It's a comedy. It's a joke. We're not advertising a porno. It's not a porno. The word `porno,' it's not supposed to turn you on. It's supposed to make you laugh."
The ratings board of the MPAA initially slapped "Zack and Miri" with an NC-17 rating, a box-office kiss of death because audiences view such films as explicit adult-only flicks. Smith appealed and talked the film down to an R rating.
Faber said the company has been able to place its ads in most of the outlets it has approached. For newspapers that rejected them because of the word "porno," Weinstein might play around with variations that exclude the title, he said.
The company developed a version of the stick-figure poster without the film's name, bearing the slogan, "Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks made a movie so outrageous that we can't even tell you the title."
Quote from: RegularKarate on September 03, 2008, 01:14:37 PM
It's still too smithy to be good. I'll probably watch it and I'll probably even laugh a few times, but it won't be good.
this really says it all. just a warning to anyone else who was won over by the trailer, this is the same old smith. but now much better actors are stranded in these thankless parts. Kevin Smith may have dipped into Judd Apatow's stable of actors but he proves himself to be nowhere near the same class of filmmaker. I was a fan of Smith's early films when I was in high school, but the problem was that I grew up and he didn't. this film in particular is numbing with it's attempts to be shocking and you end up feeling embarrassed for the actors involved. Banks and Rogen both deserve better material than this script and a director who can shape their performances.
I'll second that.
It's really not very funny. And despite its concluding attempts, it's not emotional.
Can't say I was disappointed because I never expect too much from Smith. But yeah. In regard to the Apatow connection, previous to my viewing it, I only knew about Rogen and Banks being in it. But goddamn, he really does use a lot of Apatow regulars in this movie. Don't know their names, but a whole bunch of people from 40 year old Virgin, Knocked Up, etc. Aside from casting choices, though, didn't see many similarities. Was mildy amused by what appeared to be a nod to PTA. A line Eizabeth Banks says to Rogen which Julianne Moore says to Wahlberg. Maybe nod isn't the right word, dunno, but it's obvious where he got it from. About halfway through the credits there is a fake infomercial thing that falls flat.
Quote from: Slick Shoes on November 05, 2008, 04:18:57 PM
Can't say I was disappointed because I never expect too much from Smith. But yeah. In regard to the Apatow connection, previous to my viewing it, I only knew about Rogen and Banks being in it. But goddamn, he really does use a lot of Apatow regulars in this movie. Don't know their names, but a whole bunch of people from 40 year old Virgin, Knocked Up, etc. Aside from casting choices, though, didn't see many similarities. Was mildy amused by what appeared to be a nod to PTA. A line Eizabeth Banks says to Rogen which Julianne Moore says to Wahlberg. Maybe nod isn't the right word, dunno, but it's obvious where he got it from. About halfway through the credits there is a fake infomercial thing that falls flat.
What does she say? Pull it out and do it on my stomach and my tits if you can?
Or come in me, I'm fixed?
My landlord's a real jerk?
I like simple pleasures, like butter in my ass, lollipops in my mouth. That's just me. That's just something that I enjoy.
I might have enjoyed this movie if she said that.
So what you're saying is, this movie didn't wanna make you freaky-deaky, right?
Quote from: MacGuffin on November 05, 2008, 08:29:23 PM
So what you're saying is, this movie didn't wanna make you freaky-deaky, right?
Well, that's technical talk, that doesn't really concern me.
Am I a hypocritical dickhead for liking this?
I've hated everything KS has done since Chasing Amy (Yes, even Dogma) but this was the first film I've seen of his since the late 90's that reminded me of why I liked him so much as a middle schooler. It was missing the long monologues, but I still found it very enjoyable.
Quote from: Stefen on November 29, 2008, 11:28:09 PM
Am I a hypocritical dickhead for liking this?
Yes. This movie is shit. Just as horrible as Chasing Amy, the only difference is Mewes' dick and a porn star shitting on Jeff Anderson. That's it.
Quote from: cinemanarchist on November 29, 2008, 11:48:48 PM
Quote from: Stefen on November 29, 2008, 11:28:09 PM
Am I a hypocritical dickhead for liking this?
Yes. This movie is shit. Just as horrible as Chasing Amy, the only difference is Mewes' dick and a porn star shitting on Jeff Anderson. That's it.
Just as horrible as Chasing Amy? I don't see how there can even be any comparison between the two. Aside from the fact the Kevin Smith wrote/directed, Zack and Miri couldn't be further from Chasing Amy. Especially in regards to the shitty ending of Zack and Miri, which was easily the most predictable b.s. ending I've ever seen. The ending of Chasing Amy on the other hand is handled really well-- the interactions are subtle and it leaves you feeling sad for the characters. I think it's a very true-to-life moment-- actually, a very true-to-life movie-- so I don't really see the connection between this type of film and Zack and Miri, which is basically an over the top, bawdy sex comedy. Two completely different things. Sorry if you hate Chasing Amy.
Quote from: clerkguy23 on December 03, 2008, 01:52:45 PM
Quote from: cinemanarchist on November 29, 2008, 11:48:48 PM
Quote from: Stefen on November 29, 2008, 11:28:09 PM
Am I a hypocritical dickhead for liking this?
Yes. This movie is shit. Just as horrible as Chasing Amy, the only difference is Mewes' dick and a porn star shitting on Jeff Anderson. That's it.
Just as horrible as Chasing Amy? I don't see how there can even be any comparison between the two. Aside from the fact the Kevin Smith wrote/directed, Zack and Miri couldn't be further from Chasing Amy. Especially in regards to the shitty ending of Zack and Miri, which was easily the most predictable b.s. ending I've ever seen. The ending of Chasing Amy on the other hand is handled really well-- the interactions are subtle and it leaves you feeling sad for the characters. I think it's a very true-to-life moment-- actually, a very true-to-life movie-- so I don't really see the connection between this type of film and Zack and Miri, which is basically an over the top, bawdy sex comedy. Two completely different things. Sorry if you hate Chasing Amy.
That's really weird, I meant to type Jersey Girl, not Chasing Amy (the two are still not related, I just like them the least.) Don't get me wrong, I own every Kevin Smith movie and I still really like Clerks even if it's only in a time capsule capacity but it was one of the movies that made me start thinking of movies in a different way. Chasing Amy is still far and away his best film and I wish Zack had some of that honesty going for it. It really seemed like he not only stole Apatow's actors but also tried to emulate his writing style and it just didn't turn out well. Didn't mean to hate on Chasing Amy...my bad.
a friend of mine was surprised when i told him Z&MMAP was directed by kevin smith.
he said, "really? i just assumed it was apatow." :doh:
Quote from: Hedwig on December 03, 2008, 07:21:22 PM
a friend of mine was surprised when i told him Z&MMAP was directed by kevin smith.
he said, "really? i just assumed it was apatow." :doh:
that's a fair assumption. it's a high-concept r-rated comedy about a guy going after a girl way too hot for him that stars seth rogen. :yabbse-undecided:
oh yeah, totally. i was :doh: ing the obviousness of smith's apatow mimicry.
It was like Kevin Smith lite. The love story seemed to smother the raunch with its sappiness. Still, it's the best of his 2000 outings, but where he once didn't tend to be very structured in his writing, here he made quite a few trips to clicheville.
I liked this quite a bit. Their were a few too many cliched moments but it really really worked for me. I was happy to have this film and to have seen it. Kevin's still got it and it was good to see Mewes.
you guys are nuts. cliche Kevin still got it - wow. i watched this at work today. about as bad as say... Death Race. leave this one in the bin, the one labled garbage.
haha x2.