Kevin Smith Set to Make Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

Filmmaker Kevin Smith has always been a fairly prolific director of various films and TV (alongside his podcasting empire), but the last few years have seen several planned projects go by the wayside, including Clerks III and his hockey epic Hit Somebody, as well as a TV series based on Buckaroo Banzai. Now Smith has posted to Instagram that his planned Mallrats TV series has become untenable, so he has written a script for a return to his View Askew Universe called Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.

“While I love playing with someone else’s new toys on ‘The Flash’ 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,” Smith wrote. “And so all last month, I had the time of my life laughing while writing ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’ – a fun flick in which 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. 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! And I already met with the good folks at Miramax and they’re into it, so I’m hoping we’ll be shooting in the summer!”

This is not a drill! This is an actual image from my laptop! Yes, Kids – @jayandsilentbob are coming back! Here’s the story: Sadly, Clerks III can’t happen (one of our four leads opted out of the flick). So I worked on a #Mallrats movie instead… which also didn’t happen because it turned into a #Mallrats series. I’ve pitched said sequel series to 6 different networks only to find no takers thus far. Mind you, I’m not complaining: nobody gets to make EVERYTHING they wanna make in this business (do they?). 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. And besides: I had #comicbookmen and then @tuskthemovie and @yogahosers (which all came together so crazy quickly), and the podcasts and #fatmanonbatman. With all of that, how could I bitch about no Clerks III or Mallrats 2? Then when I started directing @thecw shows, it was such a slice of Heaven on Earth, I happily put my Askewniverse sequels to the side. Since I sold #Clerks and #Mallrats years ago, they’re owned by others, which limits my moves with my own 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. 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. And so all last month, I had the time of my life laughing while writing “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” – a fun flick in which 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. 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! And I already met with the good folks at Miramax and they’re into it, so I’m hoping we’ll be shooting in the summer! Never give up, kids. You CAN do anything you want in life, so long as you’re patient and malleable. #KevinSmith

A photo posted by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on Feb 9, 2017 at 1:54pm PST

Significantly, there’s no mention of Moose Jaws, the third part of Smith’s planned “True North Trilogy” featuring The Colleens (Harley Quinn Smith & Lily-Rose Depp) and Guy Lapointe (Johnny Depp). Given that the last two parts (Tusk and Yoga Hosers) did very little business and were ravaged by critics, it seems logical that funders have turned off the money spigot on Moose Jaws, though that’s pure speculation at this point.

As for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, it sounds like it will play as a direct follow-up to 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which followed the pair played by Smith and Jason Mewes set out to stop a “Bluntman and Chronic” movie from being made. It was meant to be the final View Askew movie, with God (Alanis Morissette) literally closing the book on it. However, he eventually returned with Clerks II in 2006, as well as the little-seen 2013 oddity Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie. Other films in the View Askew canon include Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma.