If you haven’t heard about Kevin Smith’s new film Red State, you will soon, as he’s apparently bringing it to everybody himself. The horror-thriller (not-so-loosely based on the antics of the Westboro Baptist Church) debuted at Sundance last night, but Smith apparently duped the audience a bit; his initial promise to hold a public auction for distribution rights post-screening turned into a declaration that Smith has founded his own distribution company (SModcast Films) and will be releasing the film himself in October.

In the meantime, he’ll be taking the movie on the road (presumably with a Q&A also involved, as is Smith’s wont when touring) to major markets starting in early March. The dates:

March 5 – Radio City Music Hall
March 6 – Wilbur Theater, Boston
March 8 – Harris Theater, Chicago
March 9 – State Theater, Minneapolis
March 10 – Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor
March 11 – Clowes Memorial Hall, Indianapolis
March 12 – Midland Theater, Kansas City
March 14 – Clark State PAC, Springfield, OH
March 22 – Paramount Theater, Denver
March 26 – McCallister Theater, New Orleans
March 28 – Paramount Theater, Austin
March 29 – Cobb Energy Center, Atlanta
April 4 – McCaw Hall, Seattle

It’s hard to say whether this is going to work. Smith has been vocal lately about the need for alternative distribution models, and the assumption is that the early showings will pay for the theatrical run, but it’s also hard not to view this as Smith’s latest show of hubris in a long recent line of them. We’ll see. In the meantime, the teaser trailer for Red State: