Kevin Smith to Serve Up More Askewniverse Goodness With New Jay and Silent Bob Movie

This is not a drill! This is an actual image from my laptop! Yes, Kids – @jayandsilentbob are coming back! Here’s the story: Sadly, Clerks III can’t happen (one of our four leads opted out of the flick). So I worked on a #Mallrats movie instead… which also didn’t happen because it turned into a #Mallrats series. I’ve pitched said sequel series to 6 different networks only to find no takers thus far. Mind you, I’m not complaining: nobody gets to make EVERYTHING they wanna make in this business (do they?). And I’ve been lucky to make anything at all, there’s so much competition out there, so many much cooler ideas from fresh folks. And besides: I had #comicbookmen and then @tuskthemovie and @yogahosers (which all came together so crazy quickly), and the podcasts and #fatmanonbatman. With all of that, how could I bitch about no Clerks III or Mallrats 2? Then when I started directing @thecw shows, it was such a slice of Heaven on Earth, I happily put my Askewniverse sequels to the side. Since I sold #Clerks and #Mallrats years ago, they’re owned by others, which limits my moves with my own material. I don’t mind: back in the day, all I ever wanted to do was sell my stuff so I could be in the movie biz in the first place. So I don’t own Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy or #Dogma… But I DO own #jayandsilentbob. So while I love playing with someone else’s new toys on @cwtheflash and @Supergirl, I’m getting eager to play with my old toys again in the inter-connected View Askewniverse I spent the first half of my career creating. And so all last month, I had the time of my life laughing while writing “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” – a fun flick in which the Jersey boys have to go back to Hollywood to stop a brand new reboot of the old “Bluntman & Chronic Movie” they hated so much. It’s a tongue-in-cheek, silly-ass satire that pokes fun at the movie business’s recent re-do obsession, featuring an all-star cast of cameos and familiar faces! And I already met with the good folks at Miramax and they’re into it, so I’m hoping we’ll be shooting in the summer! Never give up, kids. You CAN do anything you want in life, so long as you’re patient and malleable. #KevinSmith

A photo posted by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on Feb 9, 2017 at 1:54pm PST

Lately, it’s seemed like Kevin Smith has been preoccupied with podcasting, directing superhero shows on The CW, and expressing his fondness for Canada with his True North Trilogy. Now, it seems he’s ready to return to his roots in the View Askewniverse.

On his Instagram yesterday, Smith revealed that he’s at work on a script for an all new Jay and Silent Bob movie called Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. In it, our favorite film stoners will return to Hollywood after the events of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back to stop a reboot of Bluntman and Chronic. According to Smith, “It’s a tongue-in-cheek, silly-ass satire that pokes fun at the movie business’s recent re-do obsession, featuring an all-star cast of cameos and familiar faces!”

What better way to comment on reboots than…with a sequel?

I’ve gotta say, while I wasn’t crazy about Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back when I saw it sixteen years ago (I’m old), I will always love Jay and Silent Bob as characters, and I will always want to check them out and see what they’re up to. Also, I think it’s adorable that Smith’s desktop wallpaper features the duo. He just loves them so much.

Meanwhile, it seems that sequels for others of his beloved films are out of his control, as he doesn’t own the rights to Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, or Dogma (I would love a Chasing Amy sequel!), and apparently one of the Clerks main cast declined to return for a Clerks III (considering that Dante seems to be in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, I assume it wasn’t Brian O’Halloran). So, this is the only route back into the Askewniverse.

I’m looking forward to this film. Sequels like this that are so far away from their originals are a great way not only to check in with characters we love, but to check in with ourselves, mark the passage of time, and see how we’ve grown (or not) as people. Are you excited for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot?

Snoochie Boochies.

(via CBR.com, featured image via View Askew Productions)

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