Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot the sequel to Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is moving forward with Saban Films, who picked up the North American rights to the project, Deadline has confirmed.
Smith and Jason Mewes are reprising their title roles alongside other stars (and new faces) from the original film. Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) were first introduced 25 years ago in Smith’s directorial debut, Clerks, and continued to appear in Smith’s cinematic canon including Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks II, as well as the animated film Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie. The new movie will take jabs at reboots, remakes, and sequels while simultaneously being all three at the same time.
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Saban Films’ Bill Bromiley commented, “Jay and Silent Bob is a global franchise which has a very loyal fan base. Partnering with Kevin at script stage on the next chapter of these iconic characters is a huge milestone. This is the beginning of a new initiative at Saban Films, to partner on IP with seasoned filmmakers and talent early on in the creative process all the way through distribution.”
Smith said, “Last February, I almost died. So on the one year anniversary of my widow maker heart attack, as a celebration of life and a big ol’ F you to Death, my best friend and I will be rolling cameras on a sequel/remake/reboot of a movie we first made nearly twenty years ago! In Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back our herbal heroes found out Hollywood was making a movie based on them, so they journeyed out to Hollywood to stop it. But I’ve learned so much as a storyteller and have grown immensely as a filmmaker since then, so audiences can expect something completely different: In Jay & Silent Bob Reboot our herbal heroes find out Hollywood is making a reboot of the old movie that was based on them, so they journey out to Hollywood to stop it again. I offer my (literal) undying thanks to our amazing partners at Saban and Universal for making this dream come true and backing this cinematic silliness!”
Mewes added, “I’m tired of doing Shakespeare all the time so it’ll be nice to get back to playing Jay again. It may be 25 years since I first played the idiot man-child from Jersey but this time’s going to be the best because I’ve really grown into the role of idiot man-child in my old age.”
Saban Films is planning to release the sequel theatrically and production is currently underway. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Content Group acquired all foreign rights to the movie. Jordan Monsanto of Smodco is producing alongside Liz Destro for Destro Film.
