Outside of an animated venture, Kevin Smith spent over a decade away from the View Askewniverse, the shared world he launched in 1994 with his feature debut, Clerks. But following the release of Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, Smith is back to romping about in his cinematic playground, and one of the ways he’ll continue doing so is through Clerks III, which had been shelved for a while, but is back on track with a new story.
That said, if you were hoping that Clerks III would see Dante Hicks and Randal Graves traveling around to different locations, or at least put them somewhere outside of a convenience store or fast food restaurant, you’re out of luck. Here’s what Kevin Smith had to say about Clerks III’s setting:
Clerks III takes place almost entirely at Quick Stop, so no airport stops.
Kevin Smith was responding to a fan who doesn’t particularly likes Clerks II and requested that Clerks III be set in an airport to lampoon Smith’s past with Southwest Airlines and “many other societal quirks” that happen where folks go to fly. After declaring that Clerks II is his favorite View Askewniverse movie (though Jay and Silent Bob Reboot could soon overtake it), Smith declared in his tweet that just like the original Clerks, Dante and Randal will be spending most of their time at the trusty Quick Stop in Clerks III.
It’s been nearly 30 years since we first met Dante and Randal inside of the original Quick Stop in Clerks, and almost 15 years since they were together in Clerks II. At the end of the sequel, thanks to a loan from Jay and Silent Bob, they were able to rebuild Quick Stop and RST Video, which had burned down at the beginning of the movie. By the time Jay and Silent Bob Reboot unfolded, the video store portion had been replaced by Jay and Bob’s Cock Smoker establishment, but Dante was still holding down the fort at Quick Stop, so it’s fitting that he and Randal would still be there for Clerks III.
Originally announced in 2012, Kevin Smith initially set Clerks III aside five years after Jeff Anderson, who plays Randal Graves, dropped out of appearing. Smith and Anderson eventually reconciled, and last summer, the former revealed that he was writing a new version of Clerks III that wouldn’t be as dark as what he’d originally penned.
By October 2019, Kevin Smith revealed that Clerks III was officially in the works, and this story will be inspired by the heart attack Smith suffered in early 2018. After suffering his own heart attack, Randal decides that after almost dying and having barely anything to show for his life, he’ll make a movie about his life with Randal. And thus, in a meta-narrative, the duo will make their own version of Clerks… in Clerks III.
Now it makes even more sense why Clerks III will be primarily set at the Quick Stop. If you’re making a movie about working there, then naturally that’ll be your main filming location. Kevin Smith’s use of “almost entirely” suggests there will be a few scenes set away from the convenience store, but otherwise, that will be the movie’s main hub.
There’s no word yet on when Clerks III will come out or even start filming, but it’s one of two View Askewniverse projects he’s working on. The other is the Mallrats sequel Twilight of the Mallrats, another project that Kevin Smith previously tried to get off the ground (both as a movie and TV series) that’s he’s tackling again.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news concerning Clerks III, but for now, be sure to look through our 2020 release schedule.
