By Liza Foreman
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Filmmaker Kevin Smith is set to direct his own screenplay of "The Passion of the Clerks," a sequel to his first film, 1994's "Clerks."
The sequel was written for the stars of the original film, Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson. Smith also will make an appearance with longtime sidekick Jason Mewes. The story follows the Quik Stop convenience store employees of the original "Clerks" 10 years later. Principal photography is set to begin in January. Miramax Films will distribute.
"After working on the 'Clerks' 10th-anniversary DVD for the better part of the last year, I fell in love with the characters all over again," Smith said. "The whole process reminded me why I got into the film business in the first place: to make talky, low-budget comedies. So I wrote this script about the older and not-so wiser Dante and Randal, as they try to deal with a decade of further disillusionment, even less sex and eroding pop culture."
A three-disc 10th-anniversary DVD release of the film, titled "Clerks X," is due Sept. 7 from Miramax Collectors Series. It will include the original theatrical version of the film, an extended Sundance Film Festival (news - web sites) cut and a new documentary.
Smith, who most recently directed "Jersey Girl," starring Ben Affleck (news), is writing a screen adaptation of the comic book and television superhero "The Green Hornet," also for Miramax.
Director Kevin Smith Plans 'Clerks' Sequel
By ANTHONY BREZNICAN, AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES - Kevin Smith is making another convenience store run.
The writer-director of "Dogma," "Chasing Amy" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" told the Associated Press on Friday that he has begun work on a sequel to "Clerks," his homemade indie classic from 1994.
That $27,000 movie, shot at night in a store where Smith worked, chronicled the adventures of Dante and Randal, two guys who talk about life, death, sex and movies while working at neighboring stores.
The sequel picks up 10 years later.
"It's about what happens when that lazy, 20-something malaise lasts into your 30s. Those dudes are kind of still mired, not in that same exact situation, but in a place where it's time to actually grow up and do something more than just sit around and dissect pop culture and talk about sex," Smith said during an interview at his Hollywood office. "It's: What happened to these dudes?"
A new 10th anniversary DVD of "Clerks" debuts Sept. 7, and Smith said working on that three-disc set inspired him to write about what became of those characters.
The sequel ‹ titled "The Passion of the Clerks" ‹ is set to begin shooting in January. Miramax Films, which turned the original into a cult-hit after buying it at the Sundance Film Festival (news - web sites), plans to distribute the follow-up.
"It's funny, it's very raw, insanely foul-mouthed. In many ways it's the antithesis of 'Jersey Girl,'" Smith said, referring to his recent PG-13 comedy with Ben Affleck (news) as the widowed father of a little girl.
Smith is also writing the screenplay for a movie version of "The Green Hornet," but no longer thinks he will direct it. The "Clerks" movie has moved to the top of his to-do list.
He said he called Jeff Anderson, who played the combative video-store worker Randal, and Brian O'Halloran, who was the besieged-by-strangeness convenience store employee Dante, to run the idea by them first.
"Jeff was actually very protective of 'Clerks,'" Smith said. "Jeff was like, 'Are you sure you want to do this? That movie means a lot to people and do you want to go back?' I thought about it honestly, and it would seem chicken to not give it a shot just because I'm afraid of (messing) with the first film."
So far, he said he has gotten only positive responses from the people who have read the script, so he decided to move forward with it. Both O'Halloran and Anderson are signed on, and Jason Mewes, will return as stoner Jay, the "hetero life-mate" of Smith's stoic Silent Bob.
"I'm sure there will be naysayers who say, 'Oh my God, it's an opportunistic grab at a buck,' but it's not. We're doing it for nothing," Smith said. "We're going to do it insanely inexpensively. The budget will be somewhere between 250 grand and $5 million."
The original was shot pre-dawn, and most of the actors worked for free and then went straight to their day-jobs with little or no sleep.
"This time around we'll afford ourselves the luxury of nice 12-hour days," Smith said. "And people can get paid."
