There are few movies that capture the mid-90s like Mallrats. Whether you find it funny or not, you can’t deny that it perfectly portrays the optimistic countercultural mood of the era. Despite this, the film hasn’t been referenced too many times in Kevin Smith’s expansive View Askewniverse. That’s all set to change with Mallrats 2 – aka Twilight of the Mallrats – though, which is apparently ready to begin production once the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
During a livestream on Jason Mewes’ Twitch channel, Smith provided an update on how things are going and confirmed that Ben Affleck is interested in returning to play Shannon Hamilton. A pre-Good Will Hunting Affleck appeared in Mallrats as the villainous douchebag Hamilton, last seen being sent to prison on statutory rape charges after having sex with a 15-year-old girl. In response to a question about whether he’d be back, Smith said:
“He’s written in there — Shannon Hamilton’s in there, and the actual guy told me he’s into it, so fingers crossed, it’s looking good.”
It’s always nice to see Affleck and Smith working together, as the old friends had a notorious falling out roughly ten years ago. The exact details of the feud haven’t been revealed, but Smith once tweeted the following:
“If I had to guess? It’s because one of us has a big mouth and told too many candid stories that sometimes weren’t his to tell, and the other one is Ben.”
Things got so bad that when Smith suffered a near-fatal heart attack, he never heard from Affleck, with the fillmaker wondering if he even knew about it. Fortunately, the pair have since patched things up, with Ben Affleck returning to work with Smith in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
Here’s hoping Twilight of the Mallrats goes before the cameras soon. Despite the variable quality of his movies, I still have a big soft spot for Kevin Smith and it’s nice to see him looking so healthy, patching up relationships with old friends and continuing to make the films he wants to make.
