Kevin Smith may be in between major cult films at the moment, getting ready for his upcoming Jersey-set horror film Red State, but in the meantime, he’s been quite busy keeping his legions of fans happy with live performances.

In the last few months, Smith has created and built the popularity of LA’s SmodCastle, a small theater which is rent out to podcasters and his celeb friends for them to do small, intimate shows for the most die hard of fans.

Smith doesn’t have “small theater” in immediate future, though, as he’s just been booked at The Palms Las Vegas. Here’s the full scoop.

On the Novemeber 12th, after 9 years in holding funny guys “Jay & Slient Bob Strike Back” with a night full of fun and laughter in Las Vegas.  Funny man Kevin Smith is joined by longstanding partner Jason Mewes for a exuberant night of comedic laughter as they take a trip back to “View Askewniverse”.

On November 13th, get up-close and personal with one of Hollywood’s most gifted and hilarious filmmakers. See the raunchy, offensive, and convivial Kevin Smith for a Q&A that is sure to have you falling out your seat.

Tickets haven’t gone on sale through Ticketmaster just yet, but they will soon. In the meantime, check in at Smith’s View Askew site as more dates and events get announced.

Wow, I don’t think anybody predicted the massive opening weekend that Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland just had. Audiences scooped up an amazing $116 Million worth of tickets to the film. This is the biggest opening weekend in Tim Burton’s entire career, and despite a critical consensus that this was a very average movie, word of mouth appears to be good.

This also appears to indicate that audiences are embracing the 3D trend. I am very curious if there will be a large drop-off next weekend, because the 3D in Alice was in no way comparable to  the 3D in Avatar. If  Avatar is what people are expecting, they are going to be disappointed.

It is interesting to note that Avatar only opened to $77 Million, but has now grossed over $720 Million. I will be pretty shocked if Alice has any real legs at the the box office, but the totals this morning show me that this movie may be full of surprises.

Brooklyn’s Finest, starring Don Cheadle, Richard Gere, and Ethan Hawke, came in second over the weekend with $13.5 Million.  It played in just under 2,000 theaters, and has a fairly modest budget of $25 Million, so it will likely end up profitable.

Shutter Island made about $13 Million in its 3rd week in release.  It now has exceeded its budget of $80 Million (with $95 Million total), and looks certain to hit $100 Million next weekend.

There was no runaway hit this weekend at the box office, as the top three movies were only separated by a few million dollars. When it was all said and done, Shutter Island managed to hold on to the top spot with $22.2 Million. The movie has managed to gross $75 Million to date.

The Kevin Smith directed Cop Out did not seem to be hindered by horrific reviews. It still came in at the number two spot, and made $18.5 Million. This is the largest opening weekend for a Kevin Smith film. With a $30 Million budget, this movie should be profitable.

Overture films scared up $16.5 Million with the horror flick The Crazies, and it should easily recoup its $20 Million budget.  I was hoping to see a little higher total, but good word of mouth should help this in the next few weeks.

Avatar stuck around yet again, and made $14 Million.  It has now exceeded $700 Million domestically. Next weekend Alice in Wonderland will be taking over a lot of the screens, so there is certain to be a drop in its box office totals.

Holdovers Percy Jackson and Valentine’s Day both brought in about $9M.

“A woman cannot subsist on quality films alone”–Shannon Hood

Let me explain with a food analogy, if I may. For the most part, I am a food Nazi. I try to eat really well, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, watch my fat and sugar intake, and every once in a while I find myself in the McDonald’s drive through That quarter-pounder with cheese is damn delicious when I eat it.

Afterward, I usually feel guilty. I know that it is not good for me.  I know it lacks nutritional value, and really is not a quality offering, but I have to admit that I had a good time consuming it.

Such is the case with Cop Out, the first feature film that has been directed, but not written, by Kevin Smith. There is no way I can possibly sit here and tell you this is a good movie.  It is not, by any stretch of the imagination. It is really, really stupid. But I laughed.  A lot.  *hangs head in shame*

Let’s face facts. If you happened upon the trailer for this a few months ago, and after viewing it, you circled February 26 on your calendar and thought to yourself  “I cannot WAIT to see that,”  then you will not be disappointed. What you see is what you get. You don’t need my advice here. This is pure cinematic junk food, which may or may not be what you are craving.

With Kevin Smith causing all kinds of controversy both on land and (almost) in the air, many people feel this could all have something to do with the fact that his film Cop Out hits theaters all over the country this Friday. While that may be the case, we got our hands on some new clips that may speak for themselves.

The film, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, was originally titled A Couple of Dicks, and revolves around two New York City cops trying to take down an international drug lord. The premise and comedy solely depend on the “buddy cop” formula, with their dynamic running the entire film.

After the jump, check out three brand new clips from the film. In the first, Paul Hodges (Morgan) questions the fidelity of his wife (Rashida Jones). In the second, the partners observe while a victim explains her crime to a translator. Finally, Paul shows off his acting skills in the interrogation room.

Cop Out hits theaters everywhere this Friday.

If you haven’t heard by now Clerks and Cop Out director Kevin Smith was asked to leave a Southwest Airlines flight last weekend.  The reason, he was deemed a “safety risk”, or in Smith’s words, “too fat to fly.” That’s right, Southwest Airlines tossed “Silent Bob” off a flight. What has the world come to?

Smith has come out and said he wasn’t drinking, acting out-of-the-ordinary, or too fat to fit in the seat:

“Dear @SouthwestAir, I flew out in one seat, but right after issuing me a standby ticket, Oakland Southwest attendant Suzanne (wouldn’t give last name) told me Captain Leysath deemed me a “safety risk”. Again: I’m way fat… But I’m not THERE just yet. But if I am, why wait til my bag is up, and I’m seated WITH ARM RESTS DOWN. In front of a packed plane with a bunch of folks who’d already I.d.ed me as ‘Silent Bob.'”

Armrests securely down, he was all prepared to leave (with his bag stowed no less) when the Captain asked that he be removed. Granted, anything could have happened on that flight, but the fact Southwest Airlines tried to issue him a $100 voucher in response (which he refused) doesn’t help their case.

All that said, a number of people have come to Smith’s defense, including Marvel‘s own Stan Lee.  Speaking via Twitter, Lee made a few remarks in support of Smith’s case:

@smilinstanlee: The only way Kevin could look really fat would be if he packed his pockets with cards bearing the names of each of his 1,600,000 followers!

@smilinstanlee: Maybe us thin guys who don’t take up the whole seat on a plane should ask for a discount! It ought’a work both ways!

While humorous, Lee’s remarks note one very important thing; Smith has over a million followers on Twitter.  Sure, there could be a lot of spam accounts in there but let’s assume even half (I’m sure there are more than that) are real people.  500,000 or so individuals following, listening and generally waiting for Smith to say something.

So far, the Cop Out trailer we’ve seen and the TV spots that have popped up haven’t inspired much hope that this latest Kevin Smith film will be very funny. In truth, it just doesn’t seem like a Kevin Smith film at all and instead, plays more like a generic studio buddy-cop picture. Obviously, we were hoping for a bit more.

Perhaps Warner Bros. is concerned as well because they’ve dropped a new Red Band trailer at MySpace that seems to reflect more of the “flavor” we’ve come to expect from Mr. Smith’s movies. Seeing this trailer, the film does look more like a Smith movie (although his name isn’t mentioned at all) and is definitely funnier. I just hope that these aren’t all the funny parts and we get more — and a story — when the film hits theaters on February 26.

The new Cop Out trailer is available after the break. Keep in mind this is a Red Band so it’s NSFW.

After months of debate, Warner Bros. and Kevin Smith have finally come to terms on a title for their newest picture The movie, now known as Cop Out, stars Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, and Sean William Scott.

The film, originally titled “Couple of Dicks” then a “Couple of Cops”, is the story of two cops who are trying to find a rare and very expensive baseball card, and the fanatical gangster who wants it. Willis’ character, Jimmy, needs to get the card back in order to pay for his daughter’s wedding. His partner, Paul (Morgan), is too obsessed with his wife’s infidelity to really stay focused on the job.

Having gone through that synopsis, this trailer covers none of that. What we get is a lot of Willis and Morgan being funny, and a movie that looks (almost) nothing like anything that Kevin Smith has ever done before. The script comes from fresh screenwriters Robb and Mark Cullen (TV’s Las Vegas).

Check out the first trailer for the film after the jump, and catch Smith’s Cop Out in theaters on February 26th.