Last week, the L.A Times reported that Universal Studios is planning on relaunching the “American Pie” comedy series back into a theatrical franchise following its successful run of straight-to-video titles.
When ComingSoon.net had a chance to talk to actor Seann William Scott for his upcoming police comedy Cop Out, directed by Kevin Smith, we asked him whether there’s a place for his foul-mouthed womanizer Stiffler, who many felt was the core of the “American Pie” movies, to return. We were surprised to learn that he’s already been in touch with those shepherding it.
“I’ve been talking to them about it and there’s a possibility,” he told us. “We came up with an awesome idea and I’m kind of at the point where I’m already known as that character forever anyways. As much as I want to do a part like Christoph Waltz in ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ I did ‘American Pie’ three times and then versions of that in ten other movies. If it makes sense and if it makes people laugh than maybe.”
On top of that, Scott also told us that Kevin Smith has asked him to play the main role of Buddy in his upcoming hockey movie Hit Somebody, based on the Warren Zevon hockey song of the same name. That song was co-written by Mitch Alborn who also wrote the screenplay with Smith, and it’s about a hockey player who gets into the other hockey league of the ’70s, the WHA (World Hockey Association), based on his fighting skills rather than his hockey skills.
“He’s doing it for me, he’s going to ask me to play the character. We’ve talked about it,” Scott confirmed. “I grew up playing hockey, which is good because the character’s not supposed to be a great player, he’s a great fighter, so it’s a really amazing film. He’s writing it right now and he asked me about a month ago to do it and I’m like ‘for sure.’ I can skate okay, I’ll definitely have to practice… but I can fight.”
A little later, Smith told us a little more about the movie, reiterating that, counter to popular belief, it won’t be his version of the ’70s hockey comedy Slapshot:
“I’m going for the ‘Forest Gump’ of sports movies, but not in terms of the visual effects, but it takes place through many different eras,” Smith told us while trying to describe the movie which has yet to find a studio to back it. “It starts in the ’50s and ends in the ’80s, and primarily it’s a big Valentine to the game of hockey, and an even bigger Valentine to Canada. The whole movie is about the game and the land and how they’re one and how only Canada can produce a hockey player. I’ve been a ‘Canadaphile’ for years now, and in terms of influence, it helps to have the writings of Stephen Brunt, the guy who wrote ‘Gretzky’s Tears’ and ‘Search for Bobby Orr,’ stuff like that completely helps fill in the gaps for me not actually being Canadian.”
“There’s a lot of fighting, but shooting something that’s visually interesting,” he continued, talking passionately about the sport he’s clearly loved since featuring it in his first movie Clerks. “Here’s the problem with hockey in this country. In terms of visually on TV, it’s not nearly as fascinating as it is in person. It’s the best sport to watch live, but TV doesn’t capture it the way TV can capture football, so the idea in making a hockey movie is make it as visceral as possible, so to do that, you’d have to up the action ante, and I think ‘Cop Out’ was a way to start that.”
Look for more with Smith before Cop Out opens on February 26.
