DirectorKevin Smithhas offered a further update on the development of a third movie in theJay and Silent Bobfranchise. During the latest episode of Smith’s podcastFatman Beyond, the filmmaker said that he will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Clerks, which, of course, introduced Jay and Silent Bob to audiences, throughout next year, revealing that the milestone birthday and a conversation with actor Jason Mewes first got him thinking aboutJay and Silent Bob 3.
“I didn’t think I would do it for a long time, but I had an idea and I was like, ‘I’m going to f—in’ follow this and see where it leads,' and it’s led to something I really f—in' enjoy.”
Smith then revealed (to much applause) that he is now writingJay and Silent Bob 3, with star Jason Mewes not wanting to wait ten years for a sequel. As was Smith’s original idea.
“I’m writing another Jay and Silent Bob movie. I honestly didn’t think I’d do it for…we had a plan to do the third Jay and Silent Bob movie when Jay’s daughter Logan was 18, and she could play Harley’s daughter in the movie. Harley played Jay’s daughter in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, so Logan would play Jay’s granddaughter, and we thought that would be f—ed up. But Mewes was just like, ‘So I’ve got to wait ten years to do another movie?’ So I was like, ‘I guess you’re right,’ so I started thinking about this thing and started writing it, and I f—ing absolutely love it.”
Played by Jason Mewes and Smith himself, respectively, Jay and Silent Bob firstsauntered their way onto screens inClerksback in 1994 before appearing in the likes ofDogmaandChasing Amy. The duo launched their own franchise in 2001’s Hollywood satire,Jay and Silent Bob Strike Backfollowed by the sequelJay and Silent Bob Rebootin 2019.
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Kevin Smith Will Strive for the Unexpected in Jay & Silent Bob 3
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
While we await further news regarding theJay and Silent Bobthreequel, Smith offered some insight into his approach, comparing it to the likes of his 2011 horror outingRed Stateand his desire to bring audiences the unexpected.
“I’m writing it in the way that I wrote Red State….anytime I know where the movie’s going, that means the audience knows where the movie’s going, and since it’s a Jay and Silent Bob movie, and…I dunno, the 18th…probably the audience knows where a lot of it’s going to go. Any time I feel that way, I just turn the tables and write something completely different. Any time I know what the punchline is, I’m forcing myself to find a different punchline to undercut it and stuff. So I’m using it as an exercise to sharpen the comedic knives, if you will.”
The last audiences saw of Jay and Silent Bob was in 2022’sClerks III, which reflects Smith’s real-life health scare and finds store clerk Randal surviving a heart attack and deciding to make a movie about him and his friend Dante’s lives at the Quick Stop convenience store.
