Los Angeles Comic-Con: Kevin Smith confirms Clerks 3 and Mallrats 2 are happening

At the closing of yesterday’s LACC panel for the Jay And Silent Bob reboot, Kevin Smith confirmed to audiences in attendance that he’s developing Clerks 3 and Mallrats 2. When will they be released?

It’s no secret that Kevin Smith has been teasing the development of two highly anticipated sequels for some time now, but his signoff to audiences at Los Angeles Comic-Con confirmed those rumblings.

During his final remarks at the Con, Kevin Smith let the audience know that he and his team are putting together Clerks 3 and Mallrats 2. This drew a huge reaction from the crowd and we all know why. Smith has been hinting at both films for as long as we can remember so it makes sense an announcement for Clerks 3 would make audiences go wild.

The reason why Smith’s third chapter in his Clerks trilogy went unmade for so long is that one of the original cast members didn’t want to return: Jeff Anderson. He reportedly refused to reprise his role as the video store clerk in it so Anderson’s departure halted production. Smith pointed that fact out during one of his Fatman on Batman podcasts.

What’s curious about Anderson opting out of the project is that he worked on Zack And Miri Make A Porno with Smith back in 2008. That implies there are no hard feelings between Smith and Anderson, the latter simply didn’t want to get involved with Clerks 3 when the script was pitched to him.

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The good news is Smith and Anderson are still on good terms and have come to an agreement. Smith made an announcement via Instagram last week wherein he confirmed that Anderson is on board with the new movie. All three stars were standing alongside each other in the announcement post, sans Brian O’Halloran of course.

As far as timeframes go, Smith didn’t provide any details on when his third Clerks movie will be made. That could be within the next year or further down the line, though we should be prepared to wait until promotions for the Jay And Silent Bob Reboot have run their course before any progress is made.

The bigger reveal, however, was that Smith would also begin developing a Mallrats sequel. That information wasn’t relayed in his announcement from last week which makes Mallrats 2 even more intriguing than the next Clerks installment. Mind you, Smith will presumably work on one film at a time so Mallrats 2 will likely be released in 2022 at the earliest.

Are you excited for Clerks 3 and Mallrats 2? Let us know in the comments below.

The Jay And Silent Bob Reboot releases on Oct.15, 2019.