Director/actor Kevin Smith has had a sequel to his 1995 comedy Mallrats in the works for a while. The attempts at producing a Mallrats 2 have unexpectedly turned into an order for a TV series from Universal. Smith has now come out and revealed what the show will be about when it finally hits the airwaves. Kevin Smith had this to say about what we should expect out of the Mallrats TV series:
It's a real sweet, family story. It's a multi-generational tale. It's my chance to do John Hughes and Degrassi Junior High, because much like the Degrassi formula we know our legacy cast - we know Brody and Rene and T.S. and Jay and Silent Bob - and then we meet their kids. So we meet Brody and Rene's daughter Banner Bruce, and the story takes place in his world and her world. Nobody goes to the fucking mall anymore, so the kids are baffled by it, and Brody still believes in it in a big, bad way.
We already knew that Kevin Smith wanted to bring back a lot of familiar faces from the original Mallrats to its sequel. Back when the aim was still a second feature film, Smith mentioned eighteen returning characters in addition to six newbies. Some of his original plans will have had to change for the switch from two-hour movie to ten-episode show, but he has already made it clear that he's only adjusting his original vision and will still incorporate the folks who brought the laughs back in 1995.
The reveal to Creative Screening that the Mallrats show will focus on the characters from the first film as well as their kids means that we should get a fresh take on the Mallrats premise without losing everything that made the movie so funny in the first place. Kevin Smith has always been a fan of all things Degrassi; this should give him the opportunity to explore Degrassi-esque tropes in a whole new way.
Kevin Smith will be departing from the tone of the original movie in a way that reaches beyond Degrassi. He explained one other aspect that will be different for the series, saying this:
I always saw the two inspirations for Mallrats as John Landis and John Hughes - and the Mallrats 2 script was very John Landis. Very antic, with guns everywhere, and lots of explosions and action, and less John Hughes. The chance to do Mallrats as a series allows me to do more John Hughes than John Landis and particularly the area of Hughes that I never got to tackle as much as I did in Yoga Hosers: high school.
A John Landis-esque production for a Mallrats 2 feature could definitely have worked, but his type of storytelling might not work for the small screen. John Hughes' style for films like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club could easily translate into television. Throw in a Degrassi twist, and we could be in for something truly unique and hilarious with the next chapter of Mallrats.
Unfortunately, we're still a ways off from seeing the Mallrats series. As of now, Kevin Smith doesn't even have a network or streaming service lined up to host the show. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest on Mallrats, and don't forget to check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see what you'll be able to watch while you wait for more from Kevin Smith.
