Recently, while out and about doing press for the upcoming “Jay and Silent Bob: Reboot” film, Kevin Smith announced that contracts were signed and he was bringing the story of “Clerks,” which he began 25 years ago, to an end with the upcoming “Clerks 3.” Even though the idea of a threequel in the “Clerks” series has been floating around for years, the filmmaker promised that the idea he has for the new film is completely new. And in an interview with The Wrap, he explains how real-life merges with fiction to create what Smith believes is a great way to end his franchise.
For those that aren’t aware, Smith’s new reunion with the View Askewniverse, the shared cinematic universe that linked many of his early films, stems from the filmmaker’s recent bout with a massive health issue. And it’s through that situation Smith has found new energy to not only continue the story of Jay and Silent Bob in the ‘Reboot’ film arriving in theaters this week but also with a revisit to the Quick Stop to catch up with everyone’s favorite slackers, Dante and Randal.
READ MORE: Kevin Smith Once Again Announces ‘Clerks 3’: “It’ll Be A Movie That Concludes A Saga”
And how else to better link the real-life issue that faced Smith with the next phase of the “Clerks” story than by having one of the characters go through his own brush with death?
“Randal has a heart attack, decides that he came so close to death, and his life has meant nothing, there’s nobody to memorialize him, he has no family or anything like that,” Smith said. “And in the recovery, while under fentanyl, he comes to the conclusion at mid-life, having almost died, having worked in a movie store his whole life and watched other people’s movies, he tells Dante, I think we need to make a movie. So Dante and Randal make ‘Clerks.’ That’s the story of ‘Clerks 3.’”
Not only is the idea that Randal had a heart attack and has the epiphany that he wants to make a film the same basic idea that happened to Smith just recently after his own massive heart attack led to the filmmaker wanting to revisit his cherished creations in “Jay and Silent Bob: Reboot,” but “Clerks 3” is going to be even more meta. As Smith explained, the film will find Dante and Randal attempting to create a film based on the characters they know from their days at the Quick Stop, including everyone’s favorite stoner, Jay.
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“I get to do that same fucking movie and scene in the movie,” he said. “I get to relive everything and put it into the hands of Dante and Randal. So it’s funny and poignant, but it’s more funny than anything else.”
While the idea of seeing our favorite disgruntled convenience store/video store employees tackling real issues of mortality, instead of debating over the casualties of the Death Star explosion, might be a bit jarring for fans of the series, it appears that “Clerks 3” is a deeply personal story for Smith. And those hoping that maybe the filmmaker would use his new lease on life to tell stories that have some more emotional heft, then perhaps this is exactly what he’s attempting to do.
