In light of an innocent update via his social media hubs, Kevin Smith has now confirmed what we suspected all along: he’s making Mallrats 2. “I hate to disappoint people but, yes, I am doing a Mallrats sequel,” he declared in his regular podcast Hollywood Babble-on, after posting a message to Twitter and Facebook that concluded with the words “I smell a rat…”
The director, currently prepping to shoot Clerks III in May, took to the mic to deliver the details on the long-awaited sequel. Smith told his avid listeners the reason behind the decision to roll out a follow-up some twenty years after the original hit cinemas and bombed. His friend and producer on Mallrats, James Jacks, had always joked and pushed Smith to make another. When he sadly passed away last year, his death sparked something inside of the filmmaker, who then decided to develop a sequel in honor of his long-time friend.
To find out the history behind the decision, you can head on over to check out the podcast. Failing that, read the transcription of Smith’s comments below (via/Film):
About a year and change ago now Jim Jacks, who was a producer on Mallrats, died. And we talked about him during the show and what a good dude he was….Mallrats came out and died at the box office. It only found an audience later on. But for years Jim Jacks would always be like “We should do a sequel.” Because when we were making the movie he was like “This is gonna make $100 million.” He was obviously off his fuckin’ rocker. But he was like “You’ve gotta come up with a sequel.” “And I was like, “I have one already.” “What is it?” Mallrats 2: Die Hard in a Mall. And he was like “Oh thats perfect we’ll do it.”
So the movie came out, didn’t do any business and no talk of a sequel ever came up again at the studio and what not. But Jim Jacks never fucking lost faith. Even when I would kick Mallrats and make fun of it, Jacks was always the guy going “No man. Know what would be funny and what’s gonna redeem us? Mallrats 2: Die Hard in a Mall.” So it was one of those things that was an on going theme in his life.
As I said, he passed away a year ago. I had lost touch with him for quite a few years before that and this was the biggest fucking fan of movies you’ve ever known in your life. And Clerks was the thing that kicked off my career but Mallrats brought me into a complete different world and that movie doesn’t get made without this dude at Universal going “Let’s make it, let’s make it.” So I felt real shitty about missing the last years of his life and I met some people who were like, “We ate with Jim every fucking Thursday night and he still talked about you.” I hadn’t seen him in years and he was still talking about me and that movie. So a year ago I was sitting here talking about this shit and I was like “I wanna honor the man in some way” and this is how we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna finally make the movie I wish to christ I made when he was living, man. So were finally going to make Mallrats 2.”
Smith reiterated the sentiment on radio show Rock102 Mornings with Shmony & Carolina. Talking about the status of the project, he said:
“It’s half a script right now, and we’re pulling our loot together. We’ve got up until the beginning of 2016. By the time we get to May 2016, we’re going to be shooting.”
Currently in pre-production on Clerks III, Smith will release Tusk follow-up Yoga Hosers on June 1. He’s set to shoot hockey series Hit Somebody in the fall and close out his horror trilogy with Moose Jaws that shoots early 2016. Once holiday horror Anti-Claus is also in the can, Mallrats 2 is expected to go into production.