Kevin Smith Teases Big Mystery Announcement in August, Is It Bedknobs and Broomsticks?

Last August, Kevin Smith took to social media to tease a project that would be his biggest yet, a “huge writing gig” that he hadn’t publicly disclosed but made clear was something that was a project he really wanted to go forward with. And that was the last we heard about it until now. There’s a big mystery announcement coming from Smith in August — and it might be Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

During a recent episode of the Fatman Beyond podcast with Marc Bernardin, Smith recapped his experience at San Diego Comic-Con last weekend and specifically noted that while he did have a pretty big “announcement” of sorts with things related to Jay and Silent Bob Reboot his real big announcement had to wait a little bit longer.

“We didn’t get to announce the thing that we’ve been working on that we’ve been talking about for some time now, but from what I understand that announcement is coming soon,” Smith said. “It’s in August, I believe. You know what, ‘I believe’. I fucking know for a fact they’re going to tell the world in August.”

“There’s a bakery convention in Anaheim,” Bernardin teased.

“And that’s where we’re revealing it,” Smith said.

You might be asking yourself what’s in August, in Anaheim, that would be a place to make a huge announcement about what is presumably an entertainment project that wasn’t able to be announced at San Diego Comic-Con? The answer to that is D23 Expo, described on the event’s official website as “the largest Disney fan event in the world”. One could speculate that Smith’s big project will be announced there, thus making it something Disney-related and for fans of Smith that could mean Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

For those who aren’t familiar, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a musical fantasy film Disney put out in 1971. The film is based on the books The Magic Bedknob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons and Bonfires and Broomsticks by English children’s author Mary Norton. The film, which starred Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson, told the story of three children — Charlie, Carrie, and Paul — who are evacuated from London to Pepperinge Eye during the Blitz and are placed in the care of Miss Eglantine Price. The children try to escape back to London, but when they see Miss Price trying to fly on a broomstick, they decide to stick around as Miss Price then reveals that she’s learning witchcraft by correspondence in the hope of using spells to help with the British war effort. When the school contacts her to announce their closure before she can learn the final spell, Miss Price enlists the kids to use an enchanted bed to return to London and retrieve the book containing the final spell. Adventures, including the arrival of Nazis who imprison Miss Price and the children in a museum –ensue in the film which uses a combination of live action and animation to bring the fantastical story to life.

It’s an interesting premise, and an iconic film, but what does that have to do with Smith? He’s mentioned he’d love to remake the film before. Back in a 2016 episode of the podcast (then named Fatman on Batman), Smith revealed that he would be open — and even enthusiastic — about directing a remake of the film.

“Bedknobs and Broomsticks can be remade today,” Smith said. “That movie can so f–king work today. In a world where Disney’s like, ‘Pete’s Dragon!’ and sh-t like that… Hey! I will f–king s-ck d-ck Disney to make the remake of Bedknobs and Broomsticks.”

Given Disney’s recent slate of live-action remakes of some of its iconic animated classics or even sequels to other beloved classics — such as Mary Poppins Returns — it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Smith’s big announcement does end up being a new Bedknobs and Broomsticks. We’ll just have to wait until August to find out for sure.

Would you be interested in a Bedknobs and Broomsticks remake directed by Smith? Let us know in the comments below.