Whenever I watch Good Will Hunting, it nonetheless catches me without warning to see Kevin Smith’s identify within the opening credit as an govt producer – although he was the one who personally delivered it to Miramax. But his credit score might have been in a wholly completely different spot, as he was as soon as poached to direct the eventual Oscar winner. How do ya like them apples?
Kevin Smith’s ties to each Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are well-known, however he wished nothing to do with directing them in Good Will Hunting. As he advised People, “The first question that I was asked by Ben and Matt and the Miramax folks was, ‘Do you wanna direct it?’ I think they all asked that with clenched assholes hoping that I would say no. Naturally, I was like, ‘Oh my God, no. If I were to direct this, I would just turn around to Ben and Matt the whole time and say, ‘Is this what you saw when you wrote it?’”
Kevin Smith as an alternative steered that stars and co-writers Affleck and Damon staff as much as direct Good Will Hunting nicely, though the heads shortly shot that concept down. “I was told that the lunatics would not be running that particular asylum, so the search for a director began at Miramax.” Eventually the gig went to Gus Van Sant, who landed his first Best Director Oscar nod. (The movie would earn a complete of 9 nominations, successful for Affleck and Damon’s screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams.)
Kevin Smith had solely simply been displaying some (non permanent) maturity in his movies, with Chasing Amy hitting Sundance just a few months earlier than cameras rolled on Good Will Hunting. And whereas we love Smith, he was not the man to direct that type of film. Really, he pulled off the extent of something prefer it with the Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season bit in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
How do you suppose Kevin Smith would have finished had he truly directed Good Will Hunting? Give us your greatest lion or lemon face and tell us within the feedback part beneath!