Like all other Smith fans out there, the thought of a finite number of Smith projects left was devastating, but he’s thankfully since gone on to say that he’ll be working in different media and in other ways.
EW recently spoke to Smith at a book signing in New York – for his latest book, Tough Sh*t: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good (available in the UK now: here or here, for example) – and he talked about his plans on revisiting the world of his first and seventh films in an entirely different format:
“KEVIN SMITH: Jeff [Anderson] was the first person I reached out to. I sent him an email after I’d seen Alan Rickman in Seminar in February: “You’re the first person I’m gonna tell… Clerks III is gonna be a play on Broadway. We’ll do a six month run and sell out the entirety in advance. You up for six shows a week, sir? Live?” To which Jeff responded, “Better lay off the weed, sir.”
I told Jason [Mewes], just before we went onstage to do our Jay & Silent Bob Get Old live podcast in London. He asked if he could be his own understudy. I haven’t spoken to Brian [O’Halloran] yet, but he’s the only one of us with actual theatrical training, so this will be right up his alley. I know I’ll need Trevor [Fehrman] as well, because Elias from Clerks II will feature prominently. Rosario Dawson’s Becky would feature in a pre-recorded bit.”
And he added that fans outside of New York (though sadly that might not extend to us here in the UK) will have the opportunity to see the play broadcast live in their local cinemas on the final night:
“I’ll make it as painless as I can: a six month run that culminates with a one-night performance we broadcast into movie theaters — like we did with Live From Behind a few months back. So ultimately, anyone who can’t make it to Broadway to see the show can go to the movie theater the night we stream the production and see if for like 20 bucks. The hardest part for me won’t be making it happen; the hardest part at this point, for me, will be standing on a stage for two hours and not talking.”
And when asked about what might happen in the third instalment:
“EW: Last we saw, Dante and Randal had purchased the Quick Stop, and Dante was going to be a father/husband. Where might they be now? What’s changed?
KS: It’s finally Randal’s turn to fall in love — just as everything else falls apart.”
If everything goes according to plan – and I’m really hoping it will – Clerks III would be on stage in 2014, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first film’s release. Given that Smith knows how many he fans he has abroad, I’m quietly optimistic that if we can’t have it broadcast to our cinemas as well, he’ll at least be releasing a recorded version of the play on DVD/Blu-Ray for those of us who can’t make it to New York or a US cinema. If not, I’ll be booking my flights to New York as soon as the dates are announced. (And I might just do that anyway.) To read the full interview, head over to EW here. You can be sure we’ll keep you updated as soon as we hear more.
And just for fun, here’s a brilliant clip of Randall (Jeff Anderson) from the first film:
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