UPDATE: Smith has since successfully appealed the MPAA for an R-rating.

Kevin Smith shot his first movie, Clerks, in the same convenience store where he worked. Later that year, this low-budget film (it cost less than $30,000 in its entirety) made a big splash at the Sundance Film Festival. The world of View Askew has now grown much larger and the family much bigger, but now Smith is taking a bold step outside his own comfortable box of satirical comedy and pithy dialogue.

Believe it or not, the writer/director/actor has made a dirty film. The flick, Zack and Miri Make a Porno stars up-and-coming comedy star Seth Rogen along with former porn queen Traci Lords. Elizabeth Banks and Justin Long round out the cast. After three tries, the film has been unable to shake the NC-17 rating stated by the Motion Picture Association of America.

It’s not the first time Smith has had trouble with his movie ratings. In fact, Smith’s first success Clerks was initially rated NC-17 for foul language. Smith still hopes that Zack and Miri will get the R treatment. An August 4 hearing will determine whether or not the flick meets the standards to achieve the rating.

As the title suggests, sexual acts will be depicted in the flick - something Smith has never done in any of his previous films. “The most important thing was how do you shoot sex, because I’ve never done that before,” Smith told reporters during his recent Comic-Con appearance. “I wanted the sex to look much better than my sex.”

Smith’s film world consists of many different stories, but repeat characters and plot elements tie all the flicks together. At the core of the universe is the duo Jay and Silent Bob (played by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith himself, respectively). However, in this upcoming flick Mewes will be playing a character named Lester and Smith isn’t listed in the acting credits at all.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno promises to be funny, show sex scenes and even explore gay love…but it will stand on its own without any of the View Askew elements we’ve come to expect from Smith. The film will be released October 31, 2008. Other upcoming Smith projects include Red State, Ranger Danger and the Danger Rangers and Clerks: Sell Out.