Kevin Smith‘s long-awaited hockey comedy Hit Somebody is going through some drastic changes, which could work out for some Clerks fans. Last year, Smith announced that Hit Somebody would his final film and that it would be a two-parter. The first half would follow a character learning how to play hockey in Canada, while the latter half would center on his career as a professional hockey player. Now that has all changed.
After making some alterations to Hit Somebody, which resulted in it being one single entity, Smith realized that it wouldn’t be the film he wanted it to be. That’s where Jason Mewes inspired him to turn Hit Somebody into a miniseries. And Smith did just that. The filmmaker made the announcement on his official twitter account where he said that a network had picked up the miniseries. Shortly after he also announced that because of the Hit Somebody shift, Clerks III would be his final directorial effort.
That’s right, Clerks III is coming, but only if Jeff Anderson (who plays Randal in both films) signs on the dotted line. Here’s the official tweet.
So what could we see in Clerks III? Well if you take a look at it, each film focused on the characters’ perspective on what they had to say about their respective age. So if Clerks was focused about these characters in their twenties, and Clerks II centers on those same characters in their thirties, then it only makes sense if Clerks III was about the two in their forties. I’m sure Smith has plenty to say about what it’s like to be someone in their forties.
It should be interesting to see what Smith has to say about today’s pop culture. A lot has certainly changed since Clerks II came out, and I’m sure Smith will hold nothing back when making Clerks III.
[Source: Kevin Smith]
Awesome! I wasn’t enthused about Hit Somebody being his last movie. It started w/ Clerks and it should end w/ Clerks. Great news!
Comment by NOBODY — December 7, 2012 @ 7:24 pm
“The filmmaker made the announcement on his official twitter account where he said that a network had picked up the miniseries.” -So is it AMC?
Comment by Thomas Anderson — December 7, 2012 @ 10:00 pm
Here’s the thing: He has publicly shunned the idea of Clerks 3 COUNTLESS times, saying it’d be pathetic to look at the clerks’ lives at 40 and even worse to see Jay and Silent Bob at that age, despite the fact their happy ending WAS actually a lifetime of clerking. I paraphrased it but they’re essentially his own view.
So to say Clerks 3 will be the final film from him seems like MASSIVE backtracking after realising his ‘final film’ will no longer be a film even if it serves the Hit Somebody story better to do it as a miniseries. He just doesn’t want to end his ‘film’ career with a series. Which is fair enough but to say Clerks 3 (or ANY other movie) was always the plan? No. Just no. He has said even more than publicly shunning the idea of Clerks 3 that Hit Somebody is the last story he even has left in him, because it’s a summation and metaphor for his own whole career and life.
THAT SAID. If you listen to the MCR interview in the most recent SModcast, I think I know the perfect story for Clerks 3. Randall and Danté ACHIEVE their dream. After doing up the store, Quickstop becomes a chain of franchises across the East Coast. They have plush, office-based corporate jobs now and no longer work behind the counter. But now, because of the busyness of their lives, they feel empty, like they have no life outside of their business (much like Smith/MCR said they lost inspiration after throwing their entire lives’ experiences into their early work and had nothing left – for a while – to put into later projects).
So yes, while it’s a bleak start, it DOES gel with the ‘happy ending’ of Clerks 2 without actually destroying Clerks 2’s ending’s own effectiveness. It shows how dreams actually change and it’s okay to let them change, rather than pigheadedly try to hang onto them even after their initial thrill has faded.
And yes, of course it’d be nice to bookend his film career with Clerks films. Let’s just not kid anyone: it STARTED with clutching at straws, trying to appease old fans and his own ‘one last film’ mantra. Let’s just hope he FINISHES it with a heartfelt, true metaphor for changing dreams/careers. I do think the MCR interview is what pushed his Clerks 3 decision. Even though it was a small part of the whole interview, those moments talking about dreams changing/etc definitely seemed to hit him – you can hear it in his voice.
Comment by Andrew — December 8, 2012 @ 12:41 pm
Good question.
Comment by NOBODY — December 8, 2012 @ 2:06 pm
I feel like you’ve over thought this.
Comment by NOBODY — December 8, 2012 @ 2:06 pm
Not really. If you take a look at my comment, I ramble and say the same point in three different ways. That’s the only reason the comment’s that long. I don’t mind being insulted; I can do it perfectly well myself, as you’ve seen. Just pick the right reason or it’s half-assed on your part.
Comment by Andrew — December 8, 2012 @ 2:12 pm
So Kevin Smith is giving up before they need a forklift to cart him from scene to scene on the sets? Wise move George Lucass.
Comment by Private_Eyescream — December 8, 2012 @ 6:52 pm
I’m clearly a fan of the guy as based on my last post, but objectively, you do realise he’s lost a ton of weight this past year, right? He’s definitely still fat now but probably not even technically obese anymore (despite his own jokes about it). Overweight people don’t tend to need forklifts…so, what was your point again?
Comment by Andrew — December 8, 2012 @ 8:38 pm