They can’t wait to see Kevin Smith’s Clerks III, the third part in the wildly successful film series. The film is set to debut in just a few weeks, and in anticipation, the director has discussed some of the differences between the initial script and the one he ultimately used.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Smith outlined the opening and general narrative that he initially had in mind for Clerks III. “Smith told THR that it opened the night before Hurricane Sandy hit. Because the original version of Clerks III was the beginning of Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, when the police walk in and bust Jay and Silent Bob, Dante and Randall were incarcerated.
They were all detained and interrogated, and then spent the night in jail, only to emerge from their cell and discover that a flood had completely wiped out the Quick Stop. Smith continued by explaining that when the Quick Stop was destroyed, Jeff Anderson’s character, Randal, had a mental breakdown from which he tried to recover by waiting for the release of the movie Ranger Danger. “A community crops up in the parking lot of the movie theatre,” Smith continued. “Randal creates a lean-to version of Quick Stop, like a bodega-shanty hybrid, and becomes the unofficial mayor of this town.
The film explored the process of mourning. Nonetheless, Smith claims that this draught of the script was never really published. The director reasoned that this was the case because he was concerned that audiences may not realise that the filmmakers had viewed his or her own picture. “It was so far-flung from Clerks,” Smith remarked. “Thankfully, we didn’t succeed. And then suddenly, I had the heart attack and was like, yeah, that would be a nice backbone for this movie. It seemed like Clerks III had to be at Quick Stop where it all began. This fueled the rest of the process, and when I caused Randal a heart attack, it was decided that he should also be given a copy of the film.”
Smith was alluding to his heart attack in 2018, the recovery from which inspired a large portion of the revised script for Clerks III. The film will purportedly follow Randal as he recovers from a heart attack and collaborates on a film with his friend Dante (Brian O’Halloran). This third film in the Clerks franchise will pick up where the previous two left off, continuing the story of the two store workers. The original 1994 picture is regarded as a cult masterpiece and one of the best independent films ever produced and helped put Smith on the map as a Hollywood director.
Similar results were seen with the 2006 follow-up, also titled Clerks II. Other than Anderson and O’Halloran, most of the original actors from the first two films will be back for Clerks III. Trevor Fehrman, Jason Mewes, Rosario Dawson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Will Smith are among those who have worked with Smith. The third instalment of the Clerks film series will premiere in select cinemas from September 13th through the 18th.