Listen, you can gripe all you want about Kevin Smith‘s cinematic oeuvre, but no one is making you watch it. So if this doesn’t interest you, move along —there’s plenty of other stuff to keep your attention. But if you’re a fan, this bit of news is likely to be Christmas in March. Or something.
The filmmaker’s long brewing "Clerks 3," which finally landed financing for last fall, will start shooting in May, according to the director. Smith had previously said shooting would begin in May 2014, but not only is the money now in place, but The Pittsburgh Business Times reveals The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development has tossed him a film tax credit for $2.11 million for the five week shoot (though the newspaper says it starts in June). Either way, production is happening, bringing Smith back to the city where he made "Dogma" and "Zack And Miri Make A Porno."
But that’s not the only movie in his back catalog getting a sequel. In the tweet below, you’ll see that Smith is teasing "Mallrats 2," a followup to his 1995 sophomore feature. No other details at present, but we’ll see if he can rope in his pal Ben Affleck.
We shoot CLERKS III in May. HIT SOMEBODY shoots September to Christmas. Then in Feb 2016, we do MOOSE JAWS. But after that? I smell a rat…
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) March 12, 2015
Reading more news on it, guess it is "happening" but I stand by the remainder of my earlier comment. It\’ll no doubt do better than the original did theatrically but only because of how Smith has risen in popularity since then.
Taking "I smell a rat" to mean a Mallrats sequel seems like a stretch. Most of the original cast is in their 40s and unless they\’re all working IN the mall itself, the slacker appeal of having them bum around loses a bit of the shine when it\’s a bunch of aging people. What would be next? Mallrats 3 where they\’re all in their 60s and roaming the mall solely for exercise? Pfft, get real. Also, I\’d like to point out that Smith would likely need to kill Jennifer Garner to be able to get Ben Affleck to appear in any of his films these days, since Garner does not enjoy Smith\’s company and has kept Affleck away from Smith as a result (much in the same way Affleck has kept Mark Ruffalo away from Garner, though likely less because he dislikes Ruffalo and more because Ruffalo could easily turn his and Garner\’s friendship into a relationship if he wanted).