Clerks III

''Clerks III'' is a 2022 American comedy-drama film written, produced, directed, and edited by Kevin Smith and stars Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman, Austin Zajur, Jason Mewes, Rosario Dawson, and Smith. It serves as a standalone sequel to the 1994 and 2006 ''Clerks'' films, and is the ninth overall feature film set in the View Askewniverse. In the film, Randal Graves, after surviving a massive heart attack, enlists his friends and fellow clerks Dante Hicks, Elias Grover, and Jay and Silent Bob to make a movie about their lives at the Quick Stop Convenience store that started it all.

The film had its world premiere on September 4, 2022, in Red Bank, New Jersey, before its release on September 13, by Lionsgate.

Plot

Fifteen years after Dante and Randal bought the Quick Stop, the pair's lives continue much as before, including hockey games on the roof and hanging out with Jay and Silent Bob, who have taken over the former RST Video and turned it into a legal marijuana dispensary. Dante is still grieving over the deaths of Becky and their unborn daughter Grace after they were hit by a drunk driver years prior.

One day, while Elias and his friend Blockchain are trying to sell their new NFT kites, which contain an image of the Buddy Christ, Randal suffers a severe heart attack. Elias disavows Christianity and decides to become a Satanist after blaming his faith for Randal's heart attack. After the surgery, Randal's doctor urges Dante to keep Randal happy while he recovers, and warns that he is also at risk of the same. Randal decides he has wasted his life and needs a new purpose, declaring he will make a movie about his and Dante's lives at the Quick Stop.

Becky's spirit appears to Dante, encouraging him to move on. After a harrowing audition process, Randal decides he will not only write and direct but also star in the film as himself, alongside Dante in a supporting role. Rather than cast actors, they decide to cast their friends and actual customers to play themselves. This includes Jay, Silent Bob, and Veronica, who agrees after a sexual encounter with Dante. Dante takes on the producer role and convinces his ex-fiancée Emma to loan the production $30,000, with Dante's half of the Quick Stop as collateral. Silent Bob is made the cinematographer, deciding to shoot the movie in black-and-white, while Elias and Blockchain are hired as production assistants.

As the shoot for the tentatively-titled ''Inconvenience'' continues, Dante grows exasperated with Randal's micromanaging and perceived disregard towards him in the script. After Randal tries to recreate the donkey show that took place at Mooby's, Dante has a panic attack and leaves the set as the location reminds him of Becky. Later, a drunk Dante finally confronts Randal for never respecting him or acknowledging his support over the years, and for forcing him to relive the worst moments of his life. Suddenly, he collapses, suffering a heart attack as well. When Randal decides to leave Dante at the hospital to continue work on the movie, Elias lambastes him for his attitude and reveals Dante's deal with Emma. Consumed by guilt, Randal finishes editing the movie and sneaks back into the hospital with Jay and Silent Bob's help. He shows Dante the finished film, which he has re-edited so that Dante is the main character, declaring that the story was always about him. Dante watches the film with the spirit of Becky, touched by his friend's effort, before he peacefully dies.

Sometime later after Dante's funeral, Emma arrives at the Quick Stop to collect the $30,000 she loaned Dante, or take over the store. Blockchain arrives and excitedly reveals that the NFT kites sold out immediately, making him and Elias millionaires. Elias, who has joined Randal as his new best friend in Dante's place, uses his share of their earnings to pay back Emma. After Elias, Blockchain, Jay, and Silent Bob go outside to fly one of the NFT kites, Randal somberly grieves for Dante at the cash register, unknowingly joined by his spirit. Meanwhile, Jay's daughter Milly inspects the expiration dates on some oat milk.

During the credits, director Kevin Smith thanks audience members for watching the movie before reading some narration he cut from the final scene, where it is revealed that Randal continued to make movies until the age of 90, all while still working at the Quick Stop.

Cast

* Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks
* Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves
* Marilyn Ghigliotti as Veronica Loughran
* Rosario Dawson as Becky Scott
* Trevor Fehrman as Elias Grover
* Jason Mewes as Jay
* Kevin Smith as Silent Bob
* Amy Sedaris as Doctor Ladenheim
* Austin Zajur as Blockchain Coltrane
* Jennifer Schwalbach Smith as Emma Bunting
* Harley Quinn Smith as Millennium "Milly" Faulken
* Ben Affleck as Boston John
* Michelle Buteau as Lisa
* Marc Bernardin as Lando
* Kate Micucci as Mary, a Mooby's employee
* Justin Long as Orderly

Additionally, Fred Armisen, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Melissa Benoist, Chris Wood, Anthony Michael Hall, Danny Trejo, Ralph Garman, and ''Impractical Jokers Brian Quinn, Sal Vulcano, James Murray, and Joe Gatto all appear as actors auditioning for ''Inconvenience''. Various customers from the original ''Clerks'' reprise their roles for ''Inconvenience''. Other View Askew alumni cameos include John Willyung reprising his role as Cohee Lundin from ''Chasing Amy'', as well as Scott Mosier and Ethan Suplee each reprising their role of Willam Black from ''Clerks'' and '' Mallrats''. Smith's mother Grace, who played the Milk Maid in previous ''Clerks'' films, appears as an auditioner who declares to whoever wrote the screenplay that their mother should be ashamed of them.

Production

Development

During press for '' Clerks II'', Kevin Smith briefly discussed the possibility of a ''Clerks III''. Stating that "if there's ever gonna be a ''Clerks III'', it would be somewhere down the road in my 40s or 50s, when it might be interesting to check back in on Dante and Randal. But I don't know about Jay and Bob so much, 'cause at 45, leaning on a wall in front of a convenience store might be a little sad." Smith repeated this sentiment on one of the audio commentary tracks on the ''Clerks II'' DVD, to which Jeff Anderson jokingly replied, "Oh, don't get me started", referring to Anderson's well known doubts about making ''Clerks II'' when first approached by Smith.

On March 29, 2012, Smith expressed his interest in producing ''Clerks III'' as a Broadway play after seeing the Theresa Rebeck comedy ''Seminar'' starring Alan Rickman, with whom Smith had previously worked on ''Dogma''.

On December 10, 2012, Smith released a special Hollywood Babble-On episode, ''Hollywood Babble-On #000: GIANT SIZED ANNUAL # 1: CLERKS III, AUDIENCE 0'', in which he revealed greater details on his plans for ''Clerks III''. Smith stated that an ongoing audit over residuals from ''Clerks II'' with The Weinstein Company was causing a delay in several key ''Clerks III'' cast and crew members, including Anderson and Scott Mosier, from coming on board until the audit was resolved. Smith also revealed that he would like to crowdsource ''Clerks III'', either through Kickstarter or Indiegogo, with contributors receiving anything from DVDs, posters, and even roles as extras in the film. On June 5, 2013, he changed his mind on crowdsourcing, stating "I've got access to money. And worst-case scenario, I can put up my house."

Original script (2013–2017)

Smith worked on a script for ''Clerks III'' from March to May 2013, stating when he completed it that it was "''The Empire Strikes Back''" of the series. This script featured a story about Randal having a nervous breakdown after the Quick Stop is destroyed during Hurricane Sandy, and trying to manage it by getting in line for a film called ''Ranger Danger'' a year before it opens. Randall would have gained a small cult following and set up his own miniature Quick Stop, only for there to be a shooting at the theater. In July 2013, Jason Mewes stated that they were now just waiting to hear back from The Weinstein Company about funding.

On September 26, 2014, Smith stated on his ''Hollywood Babble-On'' podcast, that he was glad that he made ''Tusk'', so he could go on to make ''Clerks III'':

There were plans to start shooting ''Clerks III'' in May 2015, but these were put on hold to film another sequel, '' Mallrats 2''. However, by June 2016 the plans for a ''Mallrats'' sequel had been turned into plans for a ''Mallrats'' TV series.

Production stalls

The initial plans to film ''Clerks III'' came to a halt in 2017, when Smith announced that one of the four leads, whom he later revealed to be Anderson, opted out of reprising his role despite a completed script. At the time, Smith doubted the film would ever be made. In 2018, Smith suffered a near-fatal heart attack after one of his comedy shows. This experience inspired him to rewrite the ''Clerks III'' script from scratch, doing away with the original planned storyline. Smith later reflected that the original script strayed too far from the original ''Clerks'', noting it was written by "a guy who didn't know a thing about death" and he was ultimately glad it was never made. Smith later reused the original opening scene, featuring Jay and Silent Bob getting arrested (alongside Dante and Randal in the original ''Clerks III'' script) for ''Jay and Silent Bob Reboot''.

In July 2019, Smith announced that he would do a live reading of the original, now-aborted ''Clerks III'' script at the First Avenue Playhouse in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey

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