Clerks III Will Finally Begin Shooting Next Month, 15 Years After II

It appears you can’t keep Jay and Silent Bob off the screen. Clerks III, a sequel to Clerks and Clerks II, will begin shooting next month after the film was acquired by Lionsgate. Kevin Smith, the writer/director behind the now-trilogy, wrote the screenplay and will direct.

The new movie is looking to get a bit nostalgic as it will release nearly 30 years after the original and 15 years after the sequel. In the movie, Randal will suffer a heart attack, which prompts him to get the gang together to shoot a movie immortalizing his life at the convenience store where they all met. Sounds like things will get pretty meta, even more so than in a normal Smith film.

Smith provided a statement about Clerks III:

There’s a saying from the Tao that goes something like ‘To be great is to go on. To go on is to go far. To go far is to return.’ Thanks to Lionsgate, we get to return to where it all started with almost the whole cast that started it all! And for the first time since the first time we ever made a movie in 1993, we’re shooting the entire flick on location in New Jersey, as an ode to both the enduring allure of cinema and the resourcefulness and lunacy of its storytellers. Years ago, Dante and Randal made me a filmmaker – so now it’s time I return the favor.

Nearly the entire main cast of Clerks and Clerks II is returning for Clerks III, with Brian O’Halloran as Dante, Jeff Anderson as Randal, Rosario Dawson as Becky, Trevor Fehrman as Elias, and Jay Mewes and Smith once again donning the jacket and beanie of Jay and Silent Bob. Liz Destro and Jordan Monsanto are producing the film, which has basically been kicking around Smith’s head for 10 years or so waiting to get released.

Clerks was a landmark film of its time, catapulting Kevin Smith into the zeitgeist and somehow hilariously encapsulating Gen X’s aimlessness during the ’90s. It was, however, definitely of its time, and while funny, Clerks II wasn’t able to capture the same moment. We’ll have to wait and see if Clerks III can rekindle the magic.