Kevin Smith is heading back to the Quick Stop.
According to Deadline, the indie filmmaker will start production next month on Clerks III, the second direct sequel to thw film that launched his career in 1994.
According to DeadlineDeadline –
[F]ollowing a massive heart attack, Randal enlists Dante, Elias, Jay and Silent Bob to make a movie immortalizing his life at the convenience store that started it all.
All the major cast members from the first two Clerks – Jeff Anderson as Randal, Brian O’Halloran as Dante, Jay Mewes as Jay, Smith as Silent Bob and Rosario Dawson as Becky – films are expected to return.
Smith has been trying to get a Clerks III movie made for some time now. Back in 2015, he had been set to shoot the film until one of the leads dropped out. (Smith later admitted it was Anderson who was unhappy with the script.)
At an appearance at 2019’s San Diego Comic-con, Smith acknowledgedSmith acknowledged that the script had been rather dark. (Rumor has it that the story involved rhe death of a main character.) But he told the crowd –
We’re never going to make that version of Clerks III, but I’m going to write a different Clerks III and we’re going to make that fucking film, I promise. And in a world where we got to bring Ben [Affleck] back, I’ll be able to bring Jeff [Anderson] back.
No expected release frame has been announced, but I suspect it wont be until 2022.
To be honest, I would have been much more excited about this news years ago then I am now. While i continue to be a fan of his early films, Smith’s output of late has been more miss than hit. His last film, Jay And Silent Bob Reboot, I found particularly disappointing. Will a return to his roots to basically tell the story of his roots be the thing to full energize him as a filmmaker or will it result in a most self-indulgent mess. We shall see.
