RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media Director Kevin Smith plans 'Clerks' sequel

Director Kevin Smith plans 'Clerks' sequel
Friday, August 27, 2004

By ANTHONY BREZNICAN
AP ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

LOS ANGELES -- Kevin Smith is making another convenience store run.

The writer-director of "Dogma," "Chasing Amy" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" told the Associated Press on Friday that he has begun work on a sequel to "Clerks," his homemade indie classic from 1994.

That $27,000 movie, shot at night in a store where Smith worked, chronicled the adventures of Dante and Randal, two guys who talk about life, death, sex and movies while working at neighboring stores.

The sequel picks up 10 years later.

"It's about what happens when that lazy, 20-something malaise lasts into your 30s. Those dudes are kind of still mired, not in that same exact situation, but in a place where it's time to actually grow up and do something more than just sit around and dissect pop culture and talk about sex," Smith said during an interview at his Hollywood office. "It's: What happened to these dudes?"



A new 10th anniversary DVD of "Clerks" debuts Sept. 7, and Smith said working on that three-disc set inspired him to write about what became of those characters.

The sequel - titled "The Passion of the Clerks" - is set to begin shooting in January. Miramax Films, which turned the original into a cult-hit after buying it at the Sundance Film Festival, plans to distribute the follow-up.

"It's funny, it's very raw, insanely foul-mouthed. In many ways it's the antithesis of 'Jersey Girl,'" Smith said, referring to his recent PG-13 comedy with Ben Affleck as the widowed father of a little girl.

Smith is also writing the screenplay for a movie version of "The Green Hornet," but no longer thinks he will direct it. The "Clerks" movie has moved to the top of his to-do list.

He said he called Jeff Anderson, who played the combative video-store worker Randal, and Brian O'Halloran, who was the besieged-by-strangeness convenience store employee Dante, to run the idea by them first.

"Jeff was actually very protective of 'Clerks,'" Smith said. "Jeff was like, 'Are you sure you want to do this? That movie means a lot to people and do you want to go back?' I thought about it honestly, and it would seem chicken to not give it a shot just because I'm afraid of (messing) with the first film."

So far, he said he has gotten only positive responses from the people who have read the script, so he decided to move forward with it. Both O'Halloran and Anderson are signed on, and Jason Mewes, will return as stoner Jay, the "hetero life-mate" of Smith's stoic Silent Bob.

"I'm sure there will be naysayers who say, 'Oh my God, it's an opportunistic grab at a buck,' but it's not. We're doing it for nothing," Smith said. "We're going to do it insanely inexpensively. The budget will be somewhere between 250 grand and $5 million."

The original was shot pre-dawn, and most of the actors worked for free and then went straight to their day-jobs with little or no sleep.

"This time around we'll afford ourselves the luxury of nice 12-hour days," Smith said. "And people can get paid."

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On the Net:

http://www.viewaskew.com/

Is that overhyped fucker ever going to finish the Spider-Man/Black Cat series?

Clerks can't be added on to. It's a stand alone classic.

Smith is just proving himself to be the douchebag I proclaimed he was.

When I read the title to this article, I thought "That fucker," but the idea behind the sequel isn't exactly a bad idea. He doesn't want to give us a "more of the same" sequel to please rabid fans of the original. I like it.

Consider that this is coming from someone who is more than a bit tired of Kevin Smith's antics, from taking on Green Hornet to suddenly dropping it like the lazy fucker he is. Grow as an artist, dammit, or you'll be like Woody Allen.

I read the first issue of Spider-Man/Black Cat, and I'm wondering why anyone would care to see it finished.

First off, I love the idea of there being a Clerks 2, though the last rumor I heard was that he was doing an animated movie. I knew in my heart that when he claimed Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back would be the last View Askew-niverse movie that he'd go back and do another one.

He intended it to be so at the time but he promised Jay Mewes that if he stayed sober for a determined amount of time (a year, I believe), he'd make another Jay & Bob movie. I think that's what this is...

If I stop looking at porn for a year, will he make a sequel to Mallrats?

I'd give up porn for two years for another Mallrats.

Abstain, Fat Ass, asbstain!

Which means that it's highly likely we'll never see this film... ever.

He's worse than Tarantino!

....i think smiths rep is more of a fanboy problem then his, i think he gets interviewed and theyre like what kinda things do you have in the works and he lists shit that he's working on and the fanboys go all rabid like its as good as done project and then when it never comes out theyre all pissy, most writers can work on ideas constantly in obscurity or not let the fanboy press know what theyre tinkering with and live life fine, but once a fanboy heres a project hed like to see done is being thought about theyre in DT's when they find out its not gunna happen.....

Agreed. It's one of a fanboy's more deplorable qualities...

When I first saw Clerks I was 19, I rewatched it a few weeks ago and was thinking wouldn't it be cool if those losers were 10 years older?
I'm pretty stoked about this, but I'm not holding my breath, as it will probably take some years to come out...

At his Q&A at Wizard World in Chicago, Kevin Smith said that filming on the Clerks sequel will begin next month. He also said that it will be "Randall's movie" just as the first one was "Dante's movie". He explained his reasons for "going back to the well" were basically that he decided he likes making the interconnected movies better than making ones that weren't related and that his earlier decision to stop making them was basically made because lots of other people were saying he should stop.

In good news for me (and perhaps no one else) he said that they would be making 7 different Clerks cartoon shorts that will be shown before the movie (so you'll have to go to different theatres to see them all or presumable wait for the eventual DVD release). He also said that the Clerks cartoon movie will be direct to DVD and he'll start writing it when the Clerks sequel is completed. He already has a story for it (Dante and Randall make a movie about...wait for it...working at a convenience store).

Or download them little bastard cartoons from the innanet like everyone else will do.

Smith will only finish the first five minutes of the animated movie before decideing to move on with his other film projects.

I think he's ran out of ideas for movies. That's why the Clerks sequel.

I'm looking forward to it. The whole sequel thing doesn't bother me because it's so many years later that it makes sense to revisit the characters.
Adn you gotta admit his Viewaskew movies were great, while his Jersey Girl experiment sucked.

He got scared after Jersey Girl failed and now he'll never dare doing anything outside the Jay & Silent Bob Universe ever again.

As it should be.

I think the Bennifer Gigli reputation was the thing that harmed Jersey Girl rather than Affleck himself. I though he quite good. And I liked the film.

I just hope Clerks 2 is better than J&SBSB.

To each their own!

You know, we raided Smith's anti-Jay and Silent Bob MB once... I'm sure we mentioned donkey fucking very often.

not to mention that he's quite good friends with JQ. . .

I wonder if Quesada will play himself in the film...?

Aint It Cool has three of the "Clerks 2" posters up:

Mr. Smith premiered them via his myspace blog and www.silentbobspeaks.com. They certainly fit with the style we've seen in the trailers... and good god... is there a roof for Rosario Dawson's hotness? Can she get any more attractive? Enjoy the posters!!!

Rosario Dawson is so hot I want to punch myself in the face as punishment for daring to look at her. She's gorgeous...absolutely gorgeous! _{Oh...and I'll be seeing this, too.}