It's back to Quick Stop for Kevin Smith, as the filmmaker has just announced his new plans to make Clerks 3. In a photo posted to his official Facebook account, Smith poses with Clerks co-stars Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson, also revealing his intentions to finally develop the sequel. To be clear, Smith says he's begun writing an all-new screenplay for the third Clerks movie, meaning it won't be the same script he'd previously written when he tried to make the sequel in the past. Better yet, Smith confirms Anderson is finally on board to reprise the role of perennial service worker Randal Graves, meaning there shouldn't be any hold-ups for getting the movie made this time. From the post:

"3 CLERKS! Thanks to the good folks at Leeloo Multiprops, I got to see Randal! Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, and I spent Saturday signing stuff and catching up, seeing so much movie merch that's been made over the last 25 years (hit the Leloo site for sweet signed skateboards)! But even better than that? We talked about making a movie together. It'll be a movie that concludes a saga. It'll be a movie about how you're never too old to completely change your life. It'll be a movie about how a decades-spanning friendship finally confronts the future. It'll be a movie that brings us back to the beginning - a return to the cradle of civilization in the great state of New Jersey. It'll be a movie that stars Jeff and @briancohalloran, with me and Jay in supporting roles. And it'll be a movie called CLERKS III!

Kevin Smith continues...

To be great is to go on. To go on is to go far. To go far is to return. And we're all gonna return to the scene of the crime! This won't be the old script we almost made a few years back: this is a completely new screenplay that I just started writing last night! And so far, it's like a dream come true! After mending fences with Ben Affleck earlier this year, I was hoping for a chance to do the same with Jeff - so huge thanks to Leeloo Multiprops for getting us all in the same room. But the biggest thanks ever go to Jeff, for being receptive to the idea at all. This means I'm gonna get to play with my two favorite inaction figures again: Dante & Randal! Two weeks from the debut of [Jay and Silent Bob Reboot], I'm ecstatic to announce our imminent return to Quick Stop! So I assure you: we're open!"

The debut movie from Smith as a director, Clerks was first released in 1994. The black-and-white movie was shot with a very low budget, set in the New Jersey convenience store where Smith worked at the time. It tells the story of Quick Stop clerks Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson), exploring life as customer service workers. The movie is also notable for introducing Mewes and Smith as Jay and Silent Bob, two stoners constantly loitering outside the store. Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonauer, Scott Mosier, and Walt Flanagan also starred. The charming comedy turned out to be a tremendous success upon its release, leading to Smith following up with other comedies like Dogma, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy.

Kevin Smith has since revisited Dante and Randal with O'Halloran and Anderson reprising their roles. The short-lived Clerks: The Animated Series aired on ABC in the year 2000, with all six episodes later getting a DVD release. O'Halloran and Anderson were back in the flesh six years later for the big screen sequel Clerks II, which Smith released in 2006. Following the destruction of the Quick Stop, the two are forced to find new work at a local burger joint, where things don't seem to be any less crazy. Of course, Smith and Mewes are also back as Jay and Silent Bob, while the movie also brings in Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fuhrman, and Jennifer Schwalbach Smith.

In 2012, Smith announced his plans to make Clerks 3, also suggesting it would be his final movie as a director. By the next year, Smith had finished a screenplay, but said he had difficulty in securing funding for the budget. The project wound up stalling for years until Anderson dropped out completely, effectively putting an end to it. Earlier this year, Smith had said he was going to start writing another version of the script, hoping a stronger story would help bring Anderson back on board. After meeting with Anderson and apparently getting his approval with this new creative direction for the sequel, it now appears Clerks 3 is once again back on track.

This new version of Clerks 3 is still being written obviously, as Smith has just begun the script. Still, there's plenty to be excited about, as another Clerks movie definitely wouldn't have been the same without Anderson. Hopefully, Smith will provide more updates about the project soon. This news comes to us from Kevin Smith on Facebook.