As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the world, not only are numerous businesses, such as movie theaters, shutting down indefinitely, but people have been advised to quarantine/socially distance and not go outside more than necessary. While staying indoors for extended periods would drive many stir crazy, filmmaker Kevin Smith, he’s using the opportunity finish some scripts he has in development, like the Mallrats sequel he resumed work on earlier this year.
Taking to his Facebook page, Kevin Smith said the following about how he’s adjusting to life in these coronavirus-filled times:
Exercising more is certainly admirable, but for those who follow along with Kevin Smith’s professional career, the bigger news here is that because his schedule is cleared for the next month or so, he’ll have time to finish his next two View Askewniverse movies, Twilight of the Mallrats and Clerks 3. Hey, if one door closes, another one opens, and this new door allows Smith to progress further on the next installments of the shared continuity he launched in 1994 with Clerks, his debut movie.
Although Kevin Smith spent the majority of the 2010s away from the View Askewniverse, he returned to its warm embrace last year with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, marking the hetero-life mates’ first live action appearance in 13 years. Along with receiving numerous positive reviews, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot also broke some interesting box office records thanks to its unorthodox release.
Lest you thought that Jay and Silent Bob Reboot would be Kevin Smith’s final View Askewniverse outing, the writer/director announced a month before the movie’s release that he was writing a new Clerks 3 script. Then in January, Smith revealed that he’d also resurrected Mallrats 2, albeit with a new title.
Initially conceived as a straightforward cinematic follow-up its predecessor, there was a period where the Mallrats sequel was reimagined as a television miniseries. However, after pitching the series to six networks and not getting any takers, Smith shelved the Mallrats series in early 2017. Three years later, he’s back to working on this sequel as a theatrical release with a new title, though no specific plot details have been revealed yet.
As for Clerks 3, Kevin Smith started working on that back in 2012, but five years later, he shelved the threequel because Jeff Anderson, who played Randal Graves in the first two Clerks movies, opted not to return. Two years later, Smith announced he was writing a new version of Clerks 3 that Anderson agreed to appear in. The new Clerks 3 will follow Randal suffering a heart attack and, after recovering, deciding to make a movie about his and Dante Hicks’ lives working in a convenience store.
Of course, even if Kevin Smith finishes the Twilight of the Mallrats and Clerks 3 scripts in the near future, that’s just one step of the filmmaking process. Next he’ll have to decide which of those movies he wants to bring to life first and get preproduction rolling. Also keep in mind that between how the coronavirus has impacted the film industry and the projects Smith’s already working on, like the Netflix series Masters of the Universe: Revelation, it may be a long time until Smith is able to start rolling cameras on either of these movies.
Regardless, we here at CinemaBlend will share any major news concerning Twilight of the Mallrats and Clerks 3 that comes in. For now, look through our 2020 release schedule to keep track of what movies are set to come out later this year… for now.
