Kevin Smith broke out in a big way when “Clerks” debuted in 1994. His black-and-white comedy about two slacker convenience store employees was filmed on a shoestring budget but was filled with so much heart and clever dialogue that it turned Smith into an indie cinema darling. Since then, you could argue that the filmmaker has been chasing that high, trying to recapture the magic of his original film, with decidedly mixed (sometimes terrible) results.

Continue reading ‘Clerks III’ Review: Kevin Smith Returns To His Slacker Roots With Surprising Maturity & Heart at The Playlist.

Kevin Smith‘s entire career is a kind of navelgazing, either about pop culture, his own life or his own art. So, it’s not really much of a surprise his third film in the “Clerks” franchise, simply titled “Clerks III,” is a meta affair that looks back on Smith’s own career. “The film is predicated on the idea that Randal survives a heart attack, a massive heart attack, quite like I did, and then winds up, you know, deciding that he’s wasted his life,” Smith told Vanity Fair last year while describing the plot. “But before he dies, he wants to memorialize himself.

Continue reading ‘Clerks III’ Trailer: The Quick Stop Goes Meta In Kevin Smith’s Threequel at The Playlist.

It has literally been more than seven years since we first started talking about Kevin Smith going back to the Quick Stop to make “Clerks III.” Well, after a number of false starts, it appears the gang is getting back together officially for “Clerks III,” which is heading into production later this summer.

READ MORE: Kevin Smith Says He Will Include The COVID-19 Pandemic In His Upcoming ‘Mallrats 2’

According to Lionsgate, the studio has given the green light to “Clerks III,” the newest tale from writer-director Kevin Smith.

Continue reading Kevin Smith’s ‘Clerks III’ Is Officially Happening At Lionsgate & Will Begin Production Next Month at The Playlist.

It’s no secret that Hollywood accounting is a shady way of making even the most successful of blockbusters never turn a profit, so it’s no surprise that convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein would be great at making his most successful movies appear to be flops. One of the films that, on paper, still isn’t the obvious success the public knows it to be is the 1994 breakout hit “Clerks,” from which Kevin Smith still hasn’t received full royalties.

Continue reading Kevin Smith Says Harvey Weinstein Refused To Pay Him Royalties For ‘Clerks’ at The Playlist.

You really shouldn’t shit on a guy that miraculously recovered from a major, life-threatening heart attack and went on to make a film that is one of the most personal of his career. But when that guy is Kevin Smith and the film is “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot,” you can’t just give him a free pass, right? That movie isn’t good and Smith hasn’t to wowed us with a film project since…uh, “Clerks?” (Maybe “Chasing Amy,” but upon rewatch recently, that film has not aged well.) So, forgive our pessimism when the filmmaker announced that after “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot,” he’s still not done with the View Askewniverse, specifically “Mallrats.”

READ MORE: ‘Jay And Silent Bob Reboot’ Flirts With Heartfelt Maturity, But Can’t Resist The Dumb Dick Jokes [Review]

Last fall, Smith broke the news that he was deep into development on a new script for “Clerks III,” which is a film that he’s been trying to get off the ground for years.

Continue reading Kevin Smith Is Once Again Developing A ‘Mallrats’ Sequel But Isn’t Sure If ‘Clerks III’ Will Be First at The Playlist.

It’s hard to have grown up in the ’90s and not be familiar with Kevin Smith‘s brand of slacker comedy. Between 1994 and 1999, Smith basically became the spokesman for a misfit generation of geeky basement dwellers with his films  “Clerks,” “Chasing Amy,” “Mallrats,” and “Dogma.”

READ MORE: Kevin Smith Responds To Martin Scorsese: “Who Is Jesus If Not A Superhero?”

What bound all of those lo-fi 90s movies together, beyond their DIY, stitched-together spirit, sophomoric jokes, and (arguably unearned confidence), was their zealous enthusiasm about geeks inheriting the earth and chutzpah-y, can-do-it worldview.

Continue reading Kevin Smith Talks ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot,’ How Seth Rogen Made Him A Stoner & Much More [Interview] at The Playlist.

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.

Continue reading ‘Clerks 3’: Kevin Smith Reveals The Meta Plot To His Long-Awaited Franchise Finale at The Playlist.

Kevin Smith is back at it again. More than six years ago, the filmmaker teased the idea of a “Clerks 3.” Then it died. Last year, Smith teased fans once again, making it seem like “Clerks 3” was inevitable. Again, the project died. And now, 25 years after the original film hit theaters, the director is once again promising fans that “Clerks 3” will happen. For real this time.

Continue reading Kevin Smith Once Again Announces ‘Clerks 3’: “It’ll Be A Movie That Concludes A Saga” at The Playlist.

'Clerks 3' To Shoot This Summer, Kevin Smith Teases 'Mallrats 2'

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Continue reading Kevin Smith Says He Now Has The Financing For ‘Clerks 3’ at The Playlist.

Kevin Smith Provides Update On 'Clerks 3,' Planning 'Tusk' Spinoff & Is At Center Of Latest 'Batman v. Superman' Rumor

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Continue reading Joseph Gordon-Levitt ‘To Reach The Clouds’ With Robert Zemeckis, Garrett Hedlund Hooks ‘Pan’ & More at The Playlist.

Continue reading Kevin Smith Says ‘Clerks 3’ To Shoot In May, Teases ‘Tusk’ For Cannes, Writing Rapture Flick ‘Helena Handbag’ at The Playlist.

Kevin Smith Says He Won't Kickstarter 'Clerks 3'; Waiting On Weinsteins For Greenlight, Aiming For Sundance 2014

Continue reading Kevin Smith Says He Won’t Kickstarter ‘Clerks 3’; Waiting On Weinsteins For Greenlight, Aiming For Sundance 2014 at The Playlist.

Kevin Smith's 'Clerks 3' Script Is 137 Pages Long, Says It Will Be The 'Empire Strikes Back' Of The Series

Continue reading Kevin Smith’s ‘Clerks 3’ Script Is 137 Pages Long, Says It Will Be The ‘Empire Strikes Back’ Of The Series at The Playlist.

Rosario Dawson On Danny Boyle’s ‘Trance,’ Hypnotherapy, Shaving Her Head For 'Sin City: A Dame To Kill For' & More

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Kevin Smith Now Considering Turning 'Clerks' Into A Book Instead Of Another Movie

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Continue reading Kevin Smith Says ‘Hit Somebody’ Will Be A 6-Hour Mini-Series Now, Teases ‘Clerks 3’ at The Playlist.