While all of Jersey was busy shoveling driveways on Thursday, Kevin Smith was on social media, sharing with fans his latest project -- a Jay and Silent Bob reboot, which, at least for now, is actually called "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot." (How's balmy LA, Kevin?)
Smith, 46, posted the cover of the movie's script, a first draft dated Feb. 5, on Instagram and Facebook with a detailed explanation of where the project fits in the context of his other work. He said the movie is so far the best bet to see his "View Asknewniverse" return to theaters. Production, he said, could begin as early as this summer.
The Red Bank native, who grew up in Highlands, recently directed episodes of the CW series "The Flash" and "Supergirl," which the comic book diehard called "such a slice of Heaven on Earth." He explained that a planned "Clerks III" movie never happened because one of the four leads dropped out, and a "Mallrats" movie that turned into a "Mallrats" TV series has been pitched to six networks with no luck. Smith said he took solace in knowing he still had his AMC reality show "Comic Book Men" (set at Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, a comic and memorabilia shop in Red Bank) along with two movies: "Tusk" (2014) and "Yoga Hosers" (2016) -- the latter starring his daughter, Harley Quinn Smith -- along with several podcasts.
My next flick will star @JayMewes and is entitled JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT. All info thus far is here: https://t.co/SxqdZHIhHk pic.twitter.com/ThvI7G6skY
-- KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) February 9, 2017"Mind you, I'm not complaining: nobody gets to make EVERYTHING they wanna make in this business (do they?)," Smith wrote. "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."
The writer, director and actor went on to explain that the rights to "Clerks" and "Mallrats" are owned by the studios he sold them to, parties that can often be not so open to new 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," he said. "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."
Enter "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot," which Smith said he wrote in January. The movie will again star himself and buddy Jason Mewes as the dynamic Jersey duo in a story that is itself a play on rampant reboot culture.
"... 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," Smith said. "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!" he said, adding that executives at Miramax, the studio behind "Clerks," "Chasing Amy" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," are "into it."
The filmmaker said he hoped the movie, the first dedicated Jay and Silent Bob film since 2001, though the characters were also featured in "Clerks II" (2006), could start filming in the summer.
"Never give up, kids," Smith concluded. "You CAN do anything you want in life, so long as you're patient and malleable."
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
