We assure you, this is the trailer for Clerks III
Dante and Randall are back at the Quick Stop for yet another shift they’re not supposed to be here for
Aux News Clerks
Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse, the cinematic universe he’s been returning to sporadically over the last 30 years, is, once again, expanding. Returning to his Jersey roots and earliest characters, Smith is re-opening the Quick Stop for Clerks III. Snoochie boochies, indeed.
Clerks III picks up where the last one left off, with our heroes Dante and Randall (Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson) still working at the Quick Stop. Sure, RST Video now sells weed over the counter, which is nice, but time has been cruel to our boys. They’re still at work, serving jerks that don’t appreciate them. But all that changes when Randall collapses at work, suddenly realizes he’s been wasting his life, and decides to make a movie. Watch the trailer and marvel at how Kevin Smith picked the exact right time to get Ben Affleck back in one of these things.
This being a Kevin Smith movie, there’s a wacky roll-out in place of a VOD dump or a full U.S. release. Instead, Clerks III will play in more than 700 U.S. movie theaters for two nights on September 13 and September 15 at 7 p.m. via Fathom Events. Additionally, Smith is taking the movie on tour as part of a roadshow, which he did for Jay And Silent Bob Reboot and Red State.
Smith is also hosting an Instagram Live event with Mewes, O’Halloran, and Anderson that started 15 minutes ago. So you can jump over to Smith’s personal Instagram feed if you want to see the director make a few self-deprecating jokes about his career.
Clerks III will be the first time Smith’s returned to the View Askewniverse since 2019's Jay And Silent Bob Reboot, a title that feels like it’s missing a word. However, it’s been even longer since we saw a proper Clerks. In 2006, Smith made a direct sequel to his first film, which saw the clerks getting a job at a fast-food restaurant. Now it would be easy to draw a direct line from the food at Mooby’s to Randall’s heart attack, but we’ll avoid making any conclusions until the film is released.
236 Comments
Fuck this.
Clerks XXXVII
In a row?!
Try not to make any legacy sequels on the way to the parking lot . . . hey get back here!
♫ Would you like some making bucks / produuuuu-cer!!!! ♪
Did he just say “making bucks”?
Yeah he’s not from here so he can not make good movie like we do
Did he say “making bucks”?
Show them your director face.
“He has a cab forward face.”
HEY, ARE THERE ANY LEGACY SEQUELS DOWN THERE?
‘Bout the biggest pair you ever seen…ya dingleberry!
There are actually more, but in the Kelvin timeline, so the numbers don’t match up.
That’ll be when Dante and Randal retire and Dante’s kid sells the Quick Stop to Amazon Go.
XXXVII?!
So is the Gawker/IO9 crowd okay with Kevin Smith now? I ask because before he did He-Man on Netflix every article that mentioned him was filled with the most inane, hateful, spiteful, judgy bullshit comments I’ve read on this site. It’s like his existence bothered people, the comments were really gross and unnecessary, people had axes to grind for zero reason.
Then He-Man dropped and the same damn people started praising him, they literally flip-flopped on their bullshit, because he made a show that aligned with some of their political and social views. Which is odd, Kevin has always been left-leaning and liberal, he was just known for Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob stuff, it apparently took an exceptionally meh cartoon sequel to get judgy bitches on the internet to chill on their own bullshit. Clerks 3? looks fun, I’m in.
On the one hand, J&SB Reboot wasn’t particularly good.On the other hand, Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” is a perfect nostalgia-inducing score for this trailer…and even if the best jokes are all on display, it looks like fun.
It’s funny, I would have thought “My Own Worst Enemy” (1999) came out much closer to Clerks (1994), but I looked it up because I’m a pedantic nerd. But yeah, it works perfectly in this trailer.
I honestly thought that song was from the early 2000s. Now I need to audit the last twenty-odd years of my life. Sigh.
This is the first I’m hearing of J&SB Reboot
Imagine the painfully unfunny nostalgia-wank that is the above trailer stretched out to 105 minutes.
Lucky you.
It’s not amazing, but I unironically enjoyed it. The View Askewniverse characters were a big part of my pop culture landscape at an important time in my life, and getting to spend an hour and a half with them again was something I needed without realizing it I needed it. To be fair, there’s a lot about it that doesn’t work, and there are a couple jokes I only got because I saw it in one of the theatrical showings where they played J&SB Strike Back immediately before it (since Reboot is deliberately kind of a remake in the same way that Force Awakens is kind of a remake of New Hope). But it legitimately felt like catching up with some old friends at a party, and for me that was a worthwhile experience.
Yeah, what little I saw of the Reboot was… not good. And I’m pretty forgiving as a viewer, as teenage me loved Clerks.Hell, Clerks 2 absolutely holds up and is a worthy sequel. But Zack and Miri, and all the weird pseudo-Troma stuff… not great.I genuinely root for Smith as he seems to be a good person in Hollywood. His podcasts and thoughts on film and culture are interesting, but lately he just can’t seem to make that translate on screen, and now it’s like he’s doing modern-day ZAZ “spoof” movies versus something quieter and more character-based.
On top of the fact he is trying to stuff his daughter down everyone’s throat as an actress..
As opposed to the other way around . . .
37?!
In a row?
Oh come on! They all do it. Angelica Houston, Nancy Sinatra, Mira Sorveno…as long as it’s not Sophia Copolla, we are all safe.
Meh, but she is seriously lacking talent.
I don’t love that, but I prefer it to Zombie and Sherri. For whatever reason I’m more okay with parent/child nepotism than S.O. nepotism.
He does seem like an alright guy, but he’s just an awful, awful filmmaker. Like, he’s objectively bad at both writing and directing movies. Just bad, bad. Bad.
By all accounts, he is actually a pretty good dude and genuinely appreciative of his fans. But he does his best stuff when he gets personal with it (Chasing Amy, Dogma, Clerks 2) as opposed to just getting really high and coming up with an idea he can use to justify getting a studio to pay him to hang out with his friends like Adam Sandler does. Given that he usually uses Dante and Randal as a way of reexamining his own life, I suspect this is going to be better than the meta wankfest the trailer makes it look like.
I hate that goddamn fucking song with every fiber of my being. I hated that goddamn fucking song with every fiber of my being in the 90s.
So Smith’s creativity has fallen so low he’s now just doing the same “meta” schtick that was his last film.When you’re doing multiple projects in a row trying to desperately mine whatever nostalgia for films you made in the 90s because basically everything since but Clerks 2 flopped critically and/or commercially it’s time to stop.
Coming this Christmas:
Dazed And Confused Singles Chasing Amy Around The Mall
starring Parker Posey
You had me at Parker Posey.
She needs the money too.
If someone did a smart spoof movie in the Top Secret/Naked Gun tradition but for 90s nostalgia and the Miramax movement… I’m gonna watch it.
Slackers In Slacks Getting Starbucksstarring Parker Posey
National Lampoons Loaded Weapon 1 (a Samuel L. Jackson vehicle!) doesn’t get enough credit
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385890/Has everything on your list except “smart.”
Oh man, Chris Gore. How humbling must it have been to write about movies for Film Threat, get a chance to make your own movie… and then it’s that?
The funny thing is I’d watch that even though I know I shouldn’t.
Ehhh I’ve watched worse
Most of these jokes are “Remember these jokes?”
Could you BE any more cynical?
Now do Disney.
Disney announces they are buying the View Askewniverse for 12 billion dollars.
Now do Bitcoin.
Fuck Bitcoin.
COUNTERPOINT: I don’t care. Clerks II was far better than it had any right to be.
Clerks 2 didn’t flop???
Your Captain Obvious schtick is tired. The bug-eyed balding troll who squats in a fetid lair playing games all day, leaving only to harass fellow trolls with sad, unrelated screenshots, has something to say about a 30 year old movie franchise. Go back to Jezebel with your performative allyship. Or you could follow me around for the next month and cry about the big mean AVClubber.
when has this ever stopped any director who could get just enough funding to make his next movie?
everything since but Clerks 2 flopped critically and/or commercially it’s time to stop.
None of those movies lost money, so I don’t really know what you’re talking about.
Given the rule of thumb break even point is double the production budget that’s certainly not the case if we’re talking theatrical:Film – Budget – Box Office
Clerks – <$28,000 - $3m
Mallrats – $6m – $2m
Chasing Amy – $250,000 – $12m
Dogma – $10m – $44m
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back – $22m – $34m
Jersey Girl – $35m – $36m
Clerks II – $5m – $27m
Zack and Miri Make a Porno – $24m – $43m
Cop Out – $30m – $56m
Red State – $4m – $2m (includes non-theatrical numbers in too)
Tusk – $3m – $2m (includes non-theatrical numbers in too)
Yoga Hosers – $5m – <$40,000 (no US theatrical release)
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot – $10m – $5m (includes non-theatrical numbers in too)Maybe they make their money back via VOD from his fanatical base, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did (I wouldn’t be surprised if nearly every film released these days makes back the budget once home media/VOD is accounted for), but if we judged them by the same metric as both his earliest 90s films and just most films in general which is their box office performance if released theatrically then they’re commercial flops.And that’s not even looking at the critical scores for his later films.
Damn you had time today
Nearly every professional movie from any point since the invention of film made/makes its money back eventually. Between TV rights, streaming, home video, and smaller revenue sources, even the shittiest movies have a long tail, and the aftermarket currently lasts upwards of a hundred years in most cases. If it were realistically possible for flops to regularly lose forty million dollars, no studio smaller than Warner Bros could survive a bad year. The bar for failure is quite a bit higher than that.
So while it may not be knowable how much money these movies made or lost for tax purposes, based on your numbers, it’s kind of a miracle anyone is giving Smith money at this point, even if looks like most of the serious investors moved on after Cop Out.
From stuff he’s written/said, all of his post Miramax films have been in the black, or at least even when you count VOD and all the other ancillary stuff. He won’t start shooting until he’s convinced that’s the case.
It’s funny how, monetary success aside, the first four movies are a Best Of list, more or less in order of quality (I’d put Dogma above Chasing Amy and Mallrats above Clerks [come at me], but it’s close).
“So Smith’s creativity”
What?
Alternately, he’s in his 50s, had some scary health moments, has an improbably good life, including a kid he dotes on, a wife he knows is too good for him, friends and fans.
If he’s reached an age where his ambition is just making that core group happy, I’m not sure I can fault that.
Hey I don’t think he’s a bad bloke, he seems to be a genuinely stand-up guy from everything you hear.It’s just sad to see that the person who made the film that basically became the face of “anyone can make a good film” as opposed to just “anyone can make a film” now just putting out stuff that is so weighed down and driven by nostalgia that it makes the MCU look creatively arthouse by comparison.
The passage of time was always going to make him irrelevant, as he was making movies just moments before high quality video cameras were built into everyone’s phones.
His Gen X audience needed him as an example, but subsequent generations never would.
The world is full of people whom time has passed by who seethe about it 24/7. Like his movies or not (I’m mixed on them, myself), at least Smith seems happy and well adjusted.
I don’t think that’s a fair evaluation of his career. Smith was given every opportunity to “make it” as a legit filmmaker after the Clerks breakout. He was gifted several major studio medium-budget movies. None of them connected with audiences or critics. He was fired from multiple franchise projects like Superman and Fletch. Clerks could have been a jumping off point for a great career, not effectively the culmination of Smith’s “anyone can make a movie” ambitions. If he’d matured as a person or a filmmaker he’d be considered a peer of Wes Anderson today. He’s irrelevant because he made a lot of bad movies.
I cannot imagine even Kevin Smith thinking that he was ever going to be a peer to Wes Anderson.
This is a guy who made his name with a film that featured someone accidentally having sex with a corpse in a convenience store bathroom. His sensibilities were never going to get him accolades from the New Yorker or the Toronto Film Festival.
I think his ambitions aren’t much higher than what he’s achieved. Zack and Miri Make a Porno was arguably his most “mainstream” film, and it’s still a rom-com about two people making a porno for some “easy” money.
And unless there’s a successful Fletch reboot I missed hearing about, I’d say those films that he was attached to were troubled projects all around.
You can be disappointed in him, but I don’t get any sense that he’s disappointed in himself.
Yeah. Let’s keep our expectations realistic. That’s good advice, sincerely. Fine, I’m in. I loved Clerks, liked Chasing Amy, enjoyed Dogma and then I lost track. Saw Clerks II out of a sense of duty and it was fine thanks to Dawson. I’ll watch this I guess and probably won’t regret it.
I don’t get any sense that he’s disappointed in himself.
I agree that the “missed opportunities” were all doomed regardless of anything Smith did*, but Clerks II was Smith coming to terms with not really being able to break out of his niche. So Clerks III treading that same trope feels like there’s little left to say (though shifting the focus to Randall is interesting). I think he’s ultimately happy now, but for a while it definitely bugged him.*if anything, he was slightly ahead of the curve, though not always in especially impressive ways (i.e. being a forerunner to Apatow, who made much more money, but isn’t especially relevant now).
He was at a point in his film career where the pressure was making it not worth doing and since he’s able to make what he needs dollarwise with all the other things he does; he made the decision to just make films for himself, his friends and his fans.
I was living in New Jersey when Clerks II came out, and when I saw it, I think I was the only person in the entire multiplex who thought it sucked. Which it did.
My god he’s lost it. If he ever had it. Can you believe he was once an up-and-coming auteur? Jesus how wrong we were.
I don’t think this is him trying to be ‘meta’ in the same way he was with Reboot, because while I don’t know his original planned plot for Clerks 3, I know it was a lot different before he had his heart attack. Reboot was trying to poke fun at Hollywood, even if he spent too damn long poking fun at himself. Kevin tends to use Dante and Randal as vehicles to examine himself and his own life, and I honestly think this is him looking back at his career after almost dying and changing his life around. He talked about doing sort of a meta-parody of the original Clerks as a follow-up to the animated series (with Randal trying to make a movie about himself), but I get the vibe this is going to be a little more personal than that.
I also irrationally hate it when a guy makes more content for his fanbase to enjoy!
The most interesting thing I have seen from Kevin Smith, I guess since Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, was a multiple blog entry story about his friendship with Jason Mewes and Mewes’s addiction struggles. And it was actually well written and really good. Which makes me think he still has talent. Which then makes me wonder why every movie he puts out lately looks so stupid.Although his appearances on The Mindy Project were also pretty funny. But that was just him playing himself and Mindy making fun of him.
It will all be in the execution. There’s plenty of material there to make it work provided they bother to write actual jokes.
Is it 2022 and we’re dinging Kevin Smith for being repetitive? That’s been his deal for at least 20 years – it’s cool that he’s still making movies in principle, but that’s about it.
I scoffed when I saw this article, but after the trailer, I’m in. Why not? It looks funny.
Welcome to Generation X. I guess. Whatever.
Makes me laugh that they got the Chewlies gum rep to reprise his role. And I’m more shocked that Veronica is actually returning. I actually wanna see this, but I’ma just wait to see it at home. I ain’t driving 30 miles to see a movie.
Boy, I used to love the ViewAskew Universe movies but I think Jay and Silent Bob Reboot killed any lingering interest in this “franchise.”
It was Clerks 2 for me. I used to love ViewAskew so much that I have actually been to the Quick Stop even though I live in Canada. But Clerks 2 just felt like it was written based on a check list of jokes and references that Smith thought that fans were expecting, rather than making something new and interesting. The only movie I have seen of his since then was Zack and MIRI which I think recorded when it was on cable. That one wasn’t really good either.
yeah i’m baffled by everyone in the replies praising it. it ruined smith for me. aside from just being an ugly, creatively bankrupt movie it completely undercuts the message of the first movie.clerks asks ‘there must be more to life than working in a convenience store, i have to get out there and do something’ (clumsily, offensively, but that’s ultimately what they’re getting at) clerks 2 answers ‘no, working at a convenience store is the happiest you’ve ever been and the happiest you’ll ever be.’and maybe there’s a way to do that in an interesting way, but clerks 2 ain’t it.
“(clumsily, offensively, but that’s ultimately what they’re getting at)“
Wow, you really and truly think that was the point of Clerks?
It is a bit classist in the angle, but I think it’s true for everyone really: no one is really fulfilled completely by their job, even if their job is a highly desirable one, say writing and directing films. Doing something for money changes the dynamics so it’s no longer yours.
Yea but the things you care about at 25 aren’t really the same at 35, and 45. Schlepping for someone else in a Quikstop for min. wage suck, sure. And Randall “if we think we’re so smart, why are we on this side of the counter?” is spot on for a 20-something, bc we all thought we were gonna do great things, big things someday.And then you’re 35, and you didn’t do those things. But maybe, y’know, just being content with life is ok too. Dante finds a girl he truly likes. He and Randall remember that despite the crap job itself, the Quickstop and the video store were some pretty good times. So why not be the boss and run it themselves?
Now Randall’s having the proverbial mid-life crisis after the mortality-is-a-thing reality check. This is when we (I’m, 49) start to get reflective and wonder if we made the right choices. I hope the story of Clerks III winds up in the direction of…yea we made some shit choices, some pointless choices, a few good choices, and all those forks led us to THIS moment. Randall has a kid now (seen in Jay & Silent Bob Reboot), and how you are for them trumps how your personal life may have wound up.
except that wasnt the message of 2. The message was you need to move on to something new if you feel stuck-(its not a message smith follows in his life, but it was the message of clerks 2)-and they bought the store, that was the move.
but that ‘new thing’ was retreating into the past. he even says that working at the store was the happiest he ever was if i remember correctly. it’s literally about moving backwards and being happy about it.
no, its not. You keep missing the point. Theres a big difference between being a quik stop employee in your forties, and OWNING ONE. It was an upgrade for him.
i don’t see any difference between the two, in terms of storytelling, or the character’s journey.i guess we got different things out of it. cool that it worked for you.
Smith himself has said that if movie hadn’t worked out for him, he would still be working at the store, and he would have been happy with that. Maybe I need a rewatch, but I don’t remember Dante coming to a realization that he needed to move on from Quickstop, it was more that he realized Veronica was the girl he wanted rather than Caitlin. Speaking of Caitlin, I so wish Kevin had gotten Lisa Spoonauer into his later movies, I think she really showed promise as an actress, may she rest in peace.
I haven’t seen Clerks 2 for no good reason at all, but agree fully on the original. Those guys were a year or two out of high school and had no clue what to do next, but Randall especially was pretty clear-eyed about what they were doing with their time in the interim. Remember there were several people who came in and commented to Dante “you work here now??”
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back was the big kick in the teeth for my interest in Kevin Smith’s work. I caught Red State by accident and it was a pretty solid flick, though, so he seems to still be pretty on the ball, and he appears to continue to be a real mensch.
Kevin Smith presents ‘MEMBER BERRIES: The Motion Picture
More like “Member Berries Part 14″, given all the legacy sequels we’ve had lately that are just checklists of references from the older films.
They already made that, but they called it Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Who saw that?
Remember that time in the 2000s we were nostalgic for the 90s? That was awesome
Know what though? I’ll take it. Kevin Smith still makes movies for Gen X when everyone else has forgotten that we’re still here.
’Member Member Berries?
Whoops! All Member Berries!
I’m ready for it to be not good, but if it turns out, at the very least, not terrible, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
The last movie was shit (Jay and Slient bob reboot) but this actual looks fun. I’m looking forward to this.
Kevin Smith already made a fictionalized making of Clerks movie. It was the underrated Zack & Miri Make a Porno.
I mean, do you mean underrated in the context of not being absolutely terrible? I’m on board with that interpretation.
Gimme a coffee, black.Can’t you see we talkin’, white?
I saw it in cinemas and thought it was pretty good. Was a bit disappointed that it had flopped
The alternate title for Zack and Miri is “Kevin Smith Tries To Make An Apatow Movie”.
So it’s shorter?
Perhaps, but it doesn’t feel like it.
I think it would be fun if Kevin just did a straight up movie about the making of Clerks. I would much rather see that than the fictionalized version, it might even make a good Netflix mini-series.
Zack & Miri was not underrated unless you are not stating strongly enough how bad it was.
Glad he got this made. I didn’t particularly care for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back or Clerks ][, and skipped everything else of his that followed, but I do like those characters and look forward to hopping on the View Askew nostalgia train one last time.
I’m totally onboard with just about every MCU film… but I can’t suspend my disbelief enough that Rosaria Dawson would still be hanging out with these people.
She was really traumatized by what happened with her friends Luke and Matt.
She was friends with Bros!?
More a cat among the pigeons.
I imagine that she doesn’t have a particularly large role in it, so she wouldn’t have to be on set for very long.
I think OP is talking about Dawson’s character. The actress herself probably loved filming Clerks II, hence why she’s back here.
Not just hanging out, but *attracted to* Dante. No knock on O’Halloran, just sayin… ROSARIO DAWSON, my dude.And honestly I kinda fucking hated Dante and Randall in 2.
With names like Dante, and Handel.
…it’s got to be good?
I thought Clerks II was really damn good actually, and I’ve re-watched it several times, but yeah…that’s the last good movie Kevin Smith has made, and this looks like it could be Jay and Silent Bob Reboot- level “bad”. I’m sure I’ll inevitably watch it on streaming a year from now though.
Same. It’s feeling like 100% nostalgia-porn, but at least its not really trying to dress it up as anything else, so hey, why not see it when it hits a streaming thing?
We’re on the interesting side of 60, goddammit. We deserve some nostalgia-porn.
I’ll be sad if Ben Affleck only has the minor cameo. He always seemed to adore acting in Smith’s movies and the dude needs some joy in his life.
It might have to do with the fact that Smith kept putting Affleck in his movies in either lead or starring roles before he was a big name (Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma.) I think they are actually pretty close friends. I mean, come on, Affleck had to know that Reboot was a mess and yet he was still in it.
And yet where’s Matt Damon???
Cosplaying as Loki (Marvel version) somewhere? Damon was only in Dogma, and Good Will Hunting had already been out for 2 years, so maybe Affleck said hey man, he’s my friend, you’re my friend, let’s help him out on his religion movie.
“Damon was only in Dogma” and Chasing Amy and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Jersey Girl and the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot but you go right ahead and rewrite history as much as you like.
Damon was also in Chasing Amy and J & SB Strike Back
eh Chasing Amy was more of cameo, Strike Back both he and Affleck broke the 4th wall to say sometimes you do movies as a favor you owe to someone..
And in Reboot reprising his role as Loki
Damon was only in DogmaDamon was in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (as himself). He was in Chasing Amy, too.
I know he was in Chasing Amy.
Wait, there’s a “Chasing Amy 2″?!?! Ugh, Kevin, let it go!
It was a little more than Affleck and Smith being friends. Smith was personally responsible for getting the Good Will Hunting script to Mirimax.
He had a cameo in Reboot.
Getting rich on crypto, bro!
Smith also currently lives in Affleck’s old house. But there was a stretch that they didn’t speak to each other. No reason in particular other than growing apart. I believe Affleck wasn’t originally going to be in Reboot because of that but he basically got a hold of Smith during filming and basically told him you better put me in this somewhere. Not in such a threatening way mind you.
Sounds like you haven’t seen “Deep Water” yet!
Yes the poor guy has to go home to Jennifer Lopez instead
seemed like the same tired man in all of his performances
Here’s the thing…. Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms yo.
Affleck seems incredibly happy lately, why do you say he needs some joy in his life?
One of these things is not like the others…
Yeah, one of them became successful enough to afford a dietician, a personal trainer and a skincare regimen.
You see attractive women with ugly or only moderately attractive men all the time. Assuming that is what you mean. It’s a bit less cute when the moderately attractive man is an author-insert character, but it’s not really far from reality either.
Mooby’s is soooo Clerks 2, Becky!
One is a woman? One is working at a place that is NOT the Quick Stop? One is wearing a yellow jacket?One guy’s wearing a cross? One guy’s wearing a hat? Am I getting close?
It’s been a very long time since I’ve had any interest in a Kevin Smith project beyond “Oh, I’m glad he’s still doing stuff”, but I loved the trailer. I was very much the target demographic for the first one, was a little further along than Dante or Randall by the second, but am very much in the “aging Gen-Xer regrets all their life choices” headspace this movie is aiming at.
If you think Smith has made some bad films, most of you haven’t seen his attempt at a horror film, TUSK. I don’t recommend it.
Next he’ll get serious and political: Supreme Court Clerks
Why, that’s just regular court clerks but with tomato and sour cream.
Hopefully, not too serious. He could get some good leak jokes out of that premise.
According to The Constitution, I’m not even supposed to be here today!
*raps gavel*
Tough to tell from a trailer, but there seems to be some kind of an effort here to make sure the scenes and jokes actually land in a way that they haven’t in a long time, so I’ll temper my expectations and enthusiasm. But this trailer at least looks fun enough to send back in time to a young Not-Quite-Yet-A-Pops Freshenmeyer and let him know that there’s finally a sequel to “Clerks.”
As long as the filming scenes use the originals as backdrop and not extended “hey watch a full remake of a scene you loved nearly 30 years ago” nostalgia-first snoozefests, it could be fun. Layer the jokes on top of those scenes, don’t make them the joke itself.
I would prefer a continuation of the Clerks Cartoon…we need some more Leonardo Leonardo and that Outbreak Monkey.
is it safe?
I believe there’s some licensing issue hampering things. Adult Swim, IIRC, actually attempted to revive it back in the day.
As long as they get Alec Baldwin back, I’m in.
Nothing can kill The Grimace.
Pediatric Burn WardOther Pediatric Burn Ward
AND BEAR WHO DRIVES CAR!
HOW CAN THAT BE?!
Bless that show for introducing me to “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer.”
I walked out of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back feeling like I’d just been given the 60-year-old-meth-addict of all fan-service blowjobs, and somehow, this looks even worse than that.
We get it, it’s fan service. Did literally every part of the trailer have to be callbacks to Clerks?
“Did literally every part of the trailer have to be callbacks to Clerks?”
Do you understand the point of a trailer?
It didn’t have to be. It got to be.
The fundamental problem is that he already made the self-referrential “this is the story of how I make Clerks” movie, and it was called Zach and Miri Make a Porno.
Only if Alanis Morissette is featured on the soundtrack.
“I’ve got one hand in my pocket, and the other one has a note to skip this flick!”
Clerks and Clerks 2 are his best movies (along with Dogma), but I don’t have high hopes for this.
Chasing Amy holds up.
I am uninterested because, to quote Dante Hicks, “I’m 37.”
All the people here hating on Smith forget that his movies don’t lose money, and he never has any problems getting financing.
Smith hit the jackpot a long, long time ago. He’s cultivated a loyal fanbase who’re more than willing to pay to see what he does. He doesn’t need the masses.
More than 50% of his films lost money
We didn’t forget, we just don’t give a shit. His movies suck.
well, its good he doesn’t need the masses, ‘cuz i don’t think he’s getting them
I feel sad for Rosario Dawson
Some thoughts:Holy shit what the fuck happened to Tobais “we sit around and watch the same movies over and over again” Yeah, that was everything you wanted. So Randall wanted to go back to the QuikStop, and now he doesn’t?”God this is even more meta than JSBR. I hate this.I’ll echo everyone else and agree that Clerks 2 was better than it had any right to be. But this, idk what the hell this is going to be. Smith really needs to find something else to do, maybe just producing?
We need Tom Scharpling now more than ever
Hopefully he’s strapped in and has his helmet on.
I’ve never thought highly of Kevin Smith’s oeuvre but you know what? This looks like exactly the right kind of stupid he does well, and I’m happy that he’s getting to make this film and have fun with his friends and send another love-letter to his fans. As for me, I’ll watch it when it’s streaming for free on HBO or wherever.
The first movie was cute and charming. The second one was cringe and this one looks down right depressing. Why would I laugh at people who wasted their lives? I feel bad for them.
I would have settled for more Clerks the Animates Series.
Has Trevor Fehrman just been living in some sort of gimp box in Smith’s basement since Clerks 2?
I’m gonna say it: I hated Clerks 2. And not just for grotesque stuff like the racial slur or donkey show jokes (although that’s definitely a big part of it).
The fundamental thesis of Clerks is “You’re wasting your life working a shitty, thankless job like this.” Clerks 2 undoes all of that and says “Hey, that shitty, thankless job wasn’t so bad.” Smith spat in the eye of artistic growth and self-improvement, and decided to just re-do the same schtick till his dying days. And at this point, it’s exhausting.
it’s cynical, hateful dogshit on autopilot.
I see the validity in your point.Clerks ended on a semi-hopeful note that Dante would get his shit together, go back to school, leave the past in the past, and make something of himself.In Clerks 2, it’s clear he didn’t. On the one hand, that’s kinda realistic. Not everyone is academically inclined, not everyone can be a doctor, teacher, lawyer, etc.
I rationalize the ending by saying that he actually loved Rosario’s character, who was pregnant with his kid. He then felt pressure to stay in the Jersey area versus taking just another mindless job in Florida working for his future in-laws. He had no savings to go back to school or start his own business, so he fell back into customer service, but at least as an owner now versus a peon. Presumably he can pay others to work for him at some point, he’s free to leave or set his own schedule, he at least has more control over his environment, even if it’s the same environment.
My big sticking point with the film is more with Randal than Dante. I agree Dante was probably never gonna go places, but at least he found happiness on his own terms. But Randal? Randal is so full of shit.
“I got to watch movies, fuck with assholes, and hang out with my best friend all day. Can you think of a better way to make a living?”
LITERALLY. ANYTHING. ELSE!!!
As someone who spent way too long as a wage slave, it makes my blood boil. What, the people who want more than just the bare minimum and to try and make something of our lives are a bunch of sheep? Fuck that!
And I can’t stand how much Randall lays that shit on Dante, like it’s somehow HIS responsibility to help Randall be happy. The whole movie I was furious at the toxicity of that friendship.Dante…. Ugh. I’m sorry, don’t cast Rosario goddam Dawson in that role and expect me to take that romantic tension seriously. It’s Kevin James married to Leah Remini levels of come the fuck on, except at least his character was theoretically charming. Dante just whines about his life all the goddam time.
I would almost buy Rosario’s character if she were played by anyone other than Rosario Dawson, if that makes sense. Rosario is so beautiful and charming that, in this context, it totally breaks my suspension of disbelief. This woman settles for a menial fast food job and hooking up with a schlub like Dante? Get the fuck outta here!
Truth is, both Randal and Dante are full of shit. They deserve each other. Dante does nothing but whine about his station in life despite the fact that he actively puts off doing anything to improve it, and Randal acts like he’s master of his own destiny when he’s anything but. If the only bit of joy he gets is fucking with asshole customers at his video store, then that’s really sad.
Or if the movie was *about* Rosario. Like if we were invested in her character’s development, her backstory, the peaks and valleys… But no. The movie belongs to Randall and Dante. Which is fine! Just be aware of context, Kev.Dante’s whining is part of what drives me nuts about Rosario’s presence in the story. He’s got a good thing going with his fiancee, he’s got this amazing potential love interest if he breaks off the engagement, he’s doing okay at his job… What does he actually have to bitch about??? And why *on earth* would someone like her be INTO that shit?
Dawson also gives off the vibe the she will not tolerate fools or bullshit (both in real life and on screen). She’d last about a week with Dante, at best.
I still liked it, but I know what you’re saying, on top of casting Rosario Dawson as his side piece, his actual fiance is talked about by everyone, including Dawson, as if she’s the hottest thing since the Human Torch. Don’t get me wrong, Jennifer is a good looking woman, but compared to Rosario Dawson? Come on.
You must be fun at parties.
I gotta defend King of Queens. Remini’s character was just as fucked up as his. This show doesn’t get the credit it deserves for being a well written and acted comedy. Now I gotta find the episode where Patton stands frozen during a party scene.
Fair enough. I haven’t watched enough of it to say otherwise. Though I have seen the Patton silent stand and it’s amazing!
The final season went dark. Real dark. She leaves him for New York while Patton fell in love with her while the old man gets sibling/elderly abused. Then they fly off to China to adopt a child and the final episode they learn she’s pregnant too. Credits.
“I got to watch movies, fuck with assholes, and hang out with my best friend all day. Can you think of a better way to make a living?”But that’s enough for some people. I’m sure we all know or are related to someone for whom that’s enough.
That kind of thing that reeks of a wealthy, successful person waxing nostalgic for a time when they felt less responsible. It’s “we never should have stopped renting” in movie form.
As I said to another user above, the things you think are a big deal at 25 aren’t the same at 35 and 45.The message of Clerks II was, IMO, that despite the shit job itself, Randall an Dante had some pretty good times in the 90s at the store and the video rental, respectively. So what not recapture that, but be the boss?
yeah ditto. also his one attempt at moving the camera in his whole career made me feel sick.
Jay & Silent Bob Reboot is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, because it’s not even so-bad-it’s-good, but just godawful in every possible way, and everyone who took a part in it should be ashamed of himself. This trailer looks like Clerks 3 might actually be even worse, which will be quite a cinematic “achievement”.
Reboot had one redeeming quality – the Stan Lee cameo at the end.
I got some laughs from the first one but honestly isn’t every webcomic doing this but better every day?
This looks… really, really bad.
I liked Clerks (and the cartoon), Mallrats, Dogma, and Red State. Everything else? Eh, at least he’s happy!
I looked through the comments on the trailer and had a bit of a gut punch moment where someone posted that he was hoping to get to see this because he’s got stage 4 cancer and isn’t sure he’ll be able to hold out until the release. And then I scrolled down in the thread a bit and saw that Kevin Smith himself, having been alerted to the comment via social media, replied to the guy to say he was going to set something up for him and someone would be in touch. Which, from what I’ve heard about Kevin, isn’t much of a surprise, I’ve seen sorta close-up how appreciative he can be of his fans.
Correction: Dante and Randall aren’t just still working at the Quick Stop — they own that shit now.I’m on board for this. I actually wish Smith had done Clerks sequels in 2004 and 2014. Dante and Randal remind me a lot of me and my best friend, with whom I saw Clerks in 1994, and I think it would have been fun to see them in their 30s and 40s 7 Up-style.
Dante should have had the heart attack. Imagine the hilarity that would ensue with Randal running the Quick Stop on his own and playing nursemaid to Dante. And don’t Dante and Becky have a kid? Sure “Uncle” Randal is a great role model.And I may be in the minority here, but I really wish Jeff Anderson was working more. He’s got such a great voice and delivery. The jailhouse scene in Clerks 2 showed that he could be a decent actor given the right material.
Jesus , everyone got ooooold* ,Well except Rosario Dawson, she’s looking good.(also me , I got damn old too)
It doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would.
Maybe it just caught me at the right time, but that actually looks kind of fun.
Poor Brian O’Halloran. Standing next to Rosario Dawson just keeps getting more and more unflattering for him.
To be fair, (insert Man X) would have the same problem. Paul Rudd is probably the one exception.
Ohh I get it! They aged, because time moves forward in a linear fashion and they aren’t the ages they were before, in the first movie, but are now older by the number of years that have since transpired.
I wasn’t even supposed to leave a comment today
Rosario Dawson know who I am …
what i wonder is what hes going to next? Dogma 2? Mallrats 2? More Jay and Silent Bob bullshit? Whats there going to be left to milk?
I love Clerks, it really hit for me at just the right time in my life. Seeing the trailer, my question is, who does this hit for? Or, intended to hit for?
You have to kind of admire someone who can swing a career out of constantly joking about how fucking bad he is at what he does. Talk about discovering a niche market.
Stand-up comedians in general talk about how much they suck at relationships, and that shit gives them opportunities ranging from traveling town to town, to having a podcast, to sometimes being offered a TV show. In general, people like sad sacks.
I don’t get the fixation with revisiting Clerks. it was a cute movie back in the day, i don’t think it has aged very well.
Pass
I’m late to the show, but I am amazed that Jason Mewes is still alive.
Yeah, i’ll believe this like I believed my brother’s story pillow pants.
This is hilarious. People are losing their minds because Smith keeps rehashing the same stuff for the same group of fans from ‘94.He had one good movie in Clerks, and a borderline very good movie in Chasing Amy. Everything else he’s made has been specifically for Gen-X dudes who are probably a little dumb and a little high. Who cares? The guy maxed out credit cards to make a movie about a convenience store, and his next movie was set in a mall with a three-nippled fortune teller (in a different mall). With that cinematic 1-2, who honestly thought he was the next Jarmusch or Tarantino or Rodriguez?I watched J&SB Reboot on a flight a couple of weeks ago. It was absolutely terrible, but it was still better than Matrix Resurrections, which people were actually serious about. I will absolutely, positively get half in the bag and watch Clerks III when it comes to my living room. And eighty minutes later my life will be no richer for it, and that will be 100% okay. The guy smokes weed and makes silly, movies with friends. If you get worked up and upset about it, that’s on you.
What’s funny is the Gen X reputation has evolved from Ethan Hawke’s dope-smoking, smartass underachiever in Reality Bites to the image of a person who is industrious and moderately serious. Not sure when that happened, but apparently Smith didn’t get the memo.
Xennial here and… what? When did that supposed image shift happen? None of the Xers I know are industrious or serious. Slackers one and all. I mean… some of them wear the costume well enough to have day jobs but that’s about it.
Clerks 2 was hilarious enough to warrant a third. I was much younger though, still,,,, pillow pants.
How is it Kevin Smith has been making movies for so long and seemingly has learned nothing about making anything look the least bit cinematic.
I don’t disagree, but a Clerks sequel is probably not the movie to make this argument.
This sequel is both highly unnecessary and also something I can’t wait to see. I know 90% of the jokes will be seeped in nostalgia and I’ll feel really old when the credits roll but dammit, I’m in on the self-indulgence.
Cool, whatever keeps him from lurking around comic book movie sets, competing with Wil Wheaton to see who can be the king of the least relevant, most hyped throne.