It was 1994 when Clerks was released and a young filmmaker named Kevin Smith began to become known. His series of movies through the next few years, all tied to together as the View Askewniverse, and with the recurring characters of Jay and Silent Bob, became cult hits. And when they didn't simply become hits, they also solidified Smith as a major pop culture icon to this day. Over a decade later Smith would return to the characters from the original Clerks for a sequel, and now, Clerks 3 is on the way, and it's all much closer to reality as filming is now complete.
Kevin Smith has announced that filming has wrapped on Clerks 3, which took the characters of Dante and Randall and the rest back to the Quick Stop and the video store, because I guess the video store is still around somehow. Kevin Smith included a rather heartfelt post to the new movie, which he calls "as personal" a film has he's ever made. Check it out below.
Kevin Smith is not shy with the praise here. He compliments the actors in front of the camera for doing some of their best work and he also credits the crew behind the camera for outdoing what they have done on Smith's previous efforts. Smith also thanks those who were responsible for overseeing covid protocols on the set, who he calls the "covid cops." The movie was able to get through filming without seeing any infections, which is more than can be said for a lot of movies these days.
Kevin Smith made a similar post to Twitter where he specifically thanked the producers of Clerks 3. Certainly, without them this movie wouldn't even exist. And considering what it seems to mean to the director and writer, that's a pretty big deal.
Kevin Smith talks here about the power of art and what it has meant to him, and how it will also be important for the characters in the film. Smith has already revealed the basic plot line of Clerks 3, which sees Randall have a heart attack, mirroring the one that Smith himself suffered a few years ago. In recovery, he decides that his life has meant little, and so he enlists Dante to help him make a movie, which will turn out to be the original Clerks.
Kevin Smith has clearly been doing a lot of looking back since his heart attack. We've already seen a Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back sequel and we know Smith is working on a sequel to Mallrats as well. The fact that we're not only getting a Clerks 3, but one that wraps back around to the original Clerks, is not all that surprising. It obviously means a lot to Kevin Smith, but for those fans that have been on the journey with him since the beginning, it has the potential to mean quite a lot as well.
