Who wants a chocolate pretzel? It's hard to believe, but it has been exactly one year since Kevin Smith survived his heart attack. The director is happy to be alive and wanted to begin shooting Jay & Silent Bob Reboot on the anniversary of his brush with death. To celebrate, he posted a picture of himself, Jason Mewes, and Jason Lee on the set and in character, confirming Lee's role in the highly anticipated sequel, which Smith teased over the weekend. It's a great picture, and they all appear to be happy about the reunion. Kevin Smith even looks like he's on the verge of tearing up.

Since last year, Kevin Smith has drastically changed his life and has lost a bunch of weight. The Silent Bob from the past is a distant memory with the new and improved healthy Smith taking over. In addition to changing his lifestyle, Smith has been hyping Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, keeping fans updated as the process goes along. Smith had this to say in his new post.

"One year ago today, I almost died. So today, I'm living it up on set with Jason Mewes and Jason Lee on Day 1 of my new flick Jay & Silent Bob Reboot! I couldn't think of a better scene with which to start the shoot than the return to the Mall with Brodie Bruce. The three of us gathered for a couple hours last night to run the lines and realized we first rehearsed together waaaaay back in the mid-90's. It may be 24 years later and we may have 6 kids between us, but Jay, Lee, and me partied like it was 1995, giggling while adding jokes and finding inflections."

It's only day one and it sounds like Jay & Silent Bob Reboot is off to a great start. The guys definitely look a bit older than they did in 1995's cult classic Mallrats, but that isn't slowing them down one bit. They are very much those characters, even in the photo shown out of context. Kevin Smith reflected on the last year some more and explains why they chose to start production on this day. He explains.

"The Oscars were on in the background during our practice and I couldn't help but feel relief when the 'In Memoriam' montage ended and I wasn't in it. We picked 2/25 as the Reboot start date *intentionally*, to celebrate the fact that I did not become Silent Bob forever 365 days ago. But after a blissful couple hours of making pretend with my friends on the set of my 14th film, I'm starting to think I *did* die in that operating room after all. Because what could be more Heavenly than this?"

The fact that Kevin Smith is alive and more healthy than he has ever been is enough to make fans happy. However, we're also getting the long awaited Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, which is an added bonus. Now that production has officially started, Smith's fall release date seems like it might be a reality. In a recent interview, the director revealed that he plans to release the long-awaited sequel this fall.

While we don't have an official release date set for Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, we do know that Kevin Smith is preparing to release it this year. With that being said, it wouldn't be surprising to see the movie get an early 2020 release date when all is said and done. For now, we'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, you can check out the first day of production set photo below, thanks to Kevin Smith's Instagram account.