Whatever happened to 'Killshot'?

How time flies.

A year ago at this time, my buddies in the newsroom and I were gearing up to cover what seemingly 99.99 percent of the population of Cape Girardeau thought was the biggest thing to happen here in, well, forever. Of course, I'm speaking of those magical days in January when "Killshot" brought the stars to Southeast Missouri.

Here we are nearly a year later, and what have we seen of our beloved "Kill-shot"? Nothing more than a trailer on the Internet, or on the "Lucky Number Slevin" DVD, if you've seen that.

A trailer does not a movie make, nor does it satisfy the city's ravenous hunger to see itself on film.

Yes, here in Cape Girardeau we got really excited about the movie, and the things the Weinstein Co. told us about its impending release.

"We're working on getting a premiere in Cape," they said. Later they told us the movie would be hitting theaters Oct. 20, which was to be the magical day when we might see some of our locals on the big screen.

That day came and went, and still no "Killshot."

Hollywood likes to keep its secrets from us real people here in the flyover country boonies, and Hollywood likes to move slowly. The Weinsteins won't budge in telling us when, or if, we'll actually get to see "Killshot" on the big screen. Meanwhile we're left looking, to some people, like a bunch of simple hay-seeds who freaked out for nothing when Big Hollywood came to town.

And, of course, no one was more guilty in creating that image than we in the media.

Day after day, it was wall-to-wall "Killshot." I was the first Southeast Missourian reporter to cover the filming on that first day of shooting. Seeing filming in process was neat, but I couldn't help but think these Big Hollywood suckers are amazed or annoyed by Cape's obsession with celebrity. Spectators followed the filming anywhere they could, hoping to get a glimpse of Diane Lane, Johnny Knoxville or Mickey Rourke. But they probably get that everywhere they go.

By the end of the filming in Cape, I was sick of "Killshot" and Big Hollywood, and I'm probably not the only one. But many of us here in Southeast Missouri put a lot of effort into "Killshot," be it reporting on the filming, being an extra or a production assistant or the city leaders who used all means possible to show hospitality to the cast and crew.

But I still want to know whatever happened to "Killshot."

As I said, the Weinstein Co. is being super secretive. Company reps will say only that they don't know when the movie will be released, but that it definitely won't be before February. And the time still flies.

Rumors abound as to why: The film is going straight to DVD, it didn't screen well in early test screenings and re-shoots are currently being shot and edited, etc.

Local filmmaker Patrick Bond seems to think the latter is the case. Bond followed the "Killshot" filming as closely as anyone, since he's a filmmaker himself. But he's not freaking out about the fact that we haven't seen a "Killshot" premier yet.

"I think it's typical," Bond said. "We're expecting 'Killshot' to come out because it happened in our town, but you can watch a movie that you like and not know it was supposed to be out two years ago."

I had never thought of it that way. If Bond's right, happy day. If not, then what's going on?

With the Weinstein Co. being so tight-lipped, nobody really knows. Elmore Leonard has speculated on his Web site that the movie may be out in fall 2007, with a premier in May at the Cannes Film Festival. Another year of waiting. How's that sound, Cape Girardeau?

Personally, I think it would be odd if "Killshot" goes straight to DVD, considering the time, money and star power invested in the venture. I'd like to think Bond is right. But if not, if "Killshot" does die a nasty death, Cape will definitely have gotten its hopes up for nothing. Maybe next time a movie comes, we can be as cool and aloof as those Hollywood guys. But that won't happen. We're Americans, and we love our celebs.

Here's hoping to a New Year when Cape sees this whole drawn out "Killshot" saga come to an end. Mayor Jay Knudtson said he doesn't have an inside track to the process, but he thinks this isn't the time to worry yet. If anything, he said the wait will only add to the payoff at the end. And he's probably right.

Matt Sanders is the Arts & Leisure editor for the Southeast Missourian and the editor of OFF Magazine.