Jay & Silent Bob debut 'Groovy' trailer, tour
Posted Friday, March 1, 2013 at 5:15 PM Central
Last updated Friday, March 1, 2013 at 5:22 PM Central
by John Couture
Whether you love him or hate him one thing can't be denied, Kevin Smith knows how to market his biggest asset, namely, himself.
This week, Kevin revealed tour dates for Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie!, an animated film centering on their secret identities Bluntman & Chronic. The tour involves Kevin and hetero life mate Jason Mewes (also a producer on the film) traveling about the country to show the flick and follow it up with a Q&A version of their podcast "Jay & Silent Bob Get Old."
As you may recall, we actually broke the news of an animated Jay & Silent Bob movie almost three years ago during the Red State tour and it's nice to see it finally come to fruition. Earlier today, they officially kicked off ticket sales for the tour and released the first trailer for the film.
I must warn you that if you're not familiar with Clerks or Kevin Smith's body of work, then you may want to proceed carefully as the trailer is anything but "safe for work." By my count there are six uses of the F word and too many penises to count.
But, that's the allure of Jay & Silent Bob and Kevin Smith's target audience is going to eat it up.
Some of the posters who have left comments under the trailer on YouTube have complained about the use of Flash style animation, but I would reckon that the positive responses far outweigh the critical ones.
As you are all well aware, I'm an unabashed Kevin Smith fan. I actually got to introduce him at the Indianapolis stop on the Red State tour at my alma mater, Butler University. So, you know that it's hard for me to be impartial.
That being said, I did enjoy the trailer, but I wasn't completely blown away by it. I think that it's a movie that I will enjoy, but I recognize that this film is clearly a love letter to his and Mewes' fans.
And trust me, there are a shit ton of us out there.
Realize for a moment that Kevin Smith (and to a lesser extent Jason Mewes) makes his living these days predominantly from his live pod cast appearances. He's not quite a stand-up comic, but that's probably the most accurate way to describe his flavor of troubadour.
To be honest, he's an entertainer. I'm sure this is probably the first and only place that you'll see Kevin Smith compared to Frank Sinatra, but it's an apt comparison. The medium may have changed, but what Kevin is doing today isn't much different than what Old Blue Eyes and the Rat Pack did a generation ago.
And like Sinatra, Smith is doing it his way.
Consider for a moment that the above trailer touts that the budget for Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie! was only $69,000. So far, they have announced 18 tour dates with more on the way and they are offering "VIP Ticket Bundles" for $250 a pop.
Numerous requests to Kevin Smith on the number of VIP packages they are offering per venue have gone unanswered, but let's say on the safe side that there are 25 per venue. Already as of post time, half of the venues have sold out of their VIP allotments.
Given that they sell out all of their VIP packages at $250 a pop at 25 per night for 18 nights, that would yield a nice figure of $112,500, or almost double their budget. Now sure, there are costs involved with renting out these venues and the like, but it's safe to say that by the time you're reading this article Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie! is in the green.
Which is fitting, given that weed plays a huge part of the film and Kevin's new outlook on life. When you factor in more tour dates and the huge windfall of the eventual home entertainment market (which is where the real money will be made on this film), it's quite possible that Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie! could be one of the most successful films of the year.
With studios losing tens of millions of dollars a year on the John Carters of the world, you have to wonder how long before a studio breaks from Hollywood tradition and starts thinking like Kevin Smith.
When that day comes, I'm sure Kevin will quote his pal Jason Mewes and say, "Snooch to the Nooch!"