It may be less than a month since Kevin Smith enthusiastically announced that filming was underway on the belated second sequel to Clerks, and just like the original movie, it appears that the shoot has been lightning quick and is almost done according to Smith's latest Instagram update on the production. Smith has been sharing updates on pretty much a daily basis, sharing images from the set, teasing some of the familiar locations returning in the threequel, and plenty of behind the scenes information. In his latest update, he ended by quietly mentioning that they are almost done.

Smith wrote about finishing up Clerks 3, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation! They say that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. Well, I never forgot #Clerks, but I've still spent the last month repeating it. The Movie-In-Movie moments in #Clerks3 have been the most fun to shoot, as the cast and crew painstakingly labor to recreate my cinematic past. Here, @briancohalloran and #jeffanderson discuss an obscure 70's sci-fi flick you've probably never heard of. Three more shooting days until we wrap Clerks III. It's been a blissful trip to the past in the Wayback Machine, but we're running out of script to shoot now - so the end is near. Took 7 years to get here and now it's almost over."

It is almost three decades since Clerks was released in cinemas, and it has been a whirlwind of activity since Smith first announced that the third installment was going into production with Lionsgate acquiring the worldwide rights to the movie. The screenplay is written by Smith, who also directs, and production moved quickly from pre-production to location shooting in New Jersey, with all of the main cast members from the previous movies returning to the franchise.

"There's a saying from the Tao that goes something like 'To be great is to go on. To go on is to go far. To go far is to return.' Thanks to Lionsgate, we get to return to where it all started with almost the whole cast that started it all," Smith said as the production got underway. "And for the first time since the first time we ever made a movie in 1993, we're shooting the entire flick on location in New Jersey, as an ode to both the enduring allure of cinema and the resourcefulness and lunacy of its storytellers. Years ago, Dante and Randal made me a filmmaker - so now it's time I return the favor."

Smith has been pretty busy of late, having also been the mastermind behind Netflix's Masters of The Universe series, which arrived a month ago to very divisive reception from older fans of the franchise who were not overly thrilled with how the first part of the series panned out. That said, there are another bunch of episodes coming sometime later in the year, which may or may not manage to turn around some of those who have criticized the show for having very little He-Man and Skeletor in it.

There is currently no release date for Clerks III, but at the rate Smith is going it is surely not going to be too long before we see the results.