It’s been a long and bumpy road, but Clerks 3 is finally coming to fruition Earlier Monday, news broke that Lionsgate officially picked up Kevin Smith’s upcoming sequel. Pre-production for Clerks 3 is currently underway in New Jersey, and production will kick off next month.
According to Deadline, the cast will include major key players from the first two Clerks films, including Jeff Anderson as Randal, Brian O’Halloran as Dante, Jason Mewes as Jay, Smith as Silent Bob, and Rosario Dawson as Becky. Smith tweeted that Elias, who debuted in Clerks II, will also appear in Clerks 3.
Smith has already written the screenplay for Clerks 3, and will serve as the movie’s director, as is par for the course with his filmography. Liz Destro and Jordan Monsanto are joining the team as producers as well. As previously reported, the plot of Clerks 3 is inspired by Smith’s own life and his recovery from a massive heart attack in 2018. The film will reportedly center around Randal, who experiences a heart attack and decides to enlist Dante, Elias, Jay, and Silent Bob to make a movie immortalizing his life at the Quick Stop convenience store that started it all — a meta but fitting plot for the sequel.
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“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!” said Smith in a statement. “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.”
Lionsgate previously worked with Smith on his 2011 horror film Red State which they released through video-on-demand. “The Clerks movies are audience favorites and many of Kevin’s films like Dogma, Red State, and the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot are a beloved part of our library that continues to delight Kevin’s devoted fans,” said Eda Kowan, the EVP of Acquisitions and Co-Productions at Lionsgate. “We’re thrilled to be presenting the next chapter in the Clerks saga to moviegoers worldwide.”
The original Clerks came out back in 1994 and was followed in 2006 by Clerks II. Smith also rolled out an animated series based on the beloved gang in 2000. Smith has been up to a lot since then (including an animated reboot of He-Man), which explains why Clerks 3 will be the first View Askewniverse movie since 2019’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
Two years ago, Smith said that My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way was onboard to score Clerks 3, but there was no mention of the goth rock singer in today’s announcement.
