After heading back to the Quick Stop with Dante and Randal in Clerks III, Kevin Smith could next be returning to the mall with T.S. and Brodie. For years, Smith has teased his desire to make a sequel to Mallrats, his follow-up to Clerks that was released in theaters in 1995. By 2020, Smith said he was picking back up with his work on the sequel, which he dubbed Twilight of the Mallrats. Despite the filmmaker's best efforts, however, the film has yet to come to fruition.
With Clerks III released, however, Smith seems to be prioritizing Twilight of the Mallrats, as he's given a new update on the movie that seems rather promising. On a new episode of is Fatman Beyond podcast (via ComicBook.com), Smith teased what he has in store for View Askew fans in 2023. He specifically mentions that progress is moving along well on Twilight of the Mallrats, suggesting that production could actually begin on the sequel sometime in the coming year. As Smith explains:
"I got a bunch of things. For the first few months of the year, I'm going to be writing. I've got a bunch of writing projects for other people, so I'm unfortunately not at liberty to reveal, but some of them are f--king wonderful. That's a different beast than the stuff I do for myself. What am I most looking forward to? We're seeing some traction on Mallrats 2: Twilight of the Mallrats, so... fingers crossed, folks."
Smith goes on to add that the studio was happy with how Clerks III performed when it was released in theaters through Fathom Events along with its subsequent release on home media. The success of the film, as Smith teases, makes it more likely that Twilight of the Mallrats will finally make its way out of development hell as soon as sometime in 2023.
"We heard from the Lionsgate folks and they were very happy with the performance of Clerks III. I'm not allowed to say anything else. [Producer Jordan Monsanto] is like, 'I can't tell you anything because then you go talk about it on your f--king show...but things are looking good, so this could be the year that we return to the mall."
Clerks III Success Could Get Mallrats 2 Made
Mallrats was written and directed by Kevin Smith. The movie, which brings back Smith alongside Jay Mewes as Jay and Silent Bob, also stars Shannen Doherty, Jeremy London, Jason Lee, Claire Forlani, Priscilla Barnes, Michael Rooker, Ethan Suplee, Joey Lauren Adams, and Ben Affleck. The film follows a pair of "mallrats" who head to the mall to heal after each of them breaks up with their girlfriends.
If you want to revisit the original Mallrats, you're in luck, as it's currently streaming for free on the streaming platform Amazon FreeVee.