Kevin Smith Confirms 'Mallrats 2;' Explains Its Origin And Offers Update
"I hate to disappoint people but, yes, I am doing a Mallrats sequel." That was Kevin Smith speaking last Friday on his Hollywood Babble-On podcast. He made the statement after a tweet of his suggested he plans to do a follow-up to the 1995 cult comedy which bombed at the box office but became a fan favorite in the years since. Now we know he is making the film.
Smith also told his listeners the reason why he'd decided now, 20 years later, to do Mallrats 2. It's simple: producer James Jacks. Jacks produced Mallrats and would always joke with Smith about making a sequel. He passed away last year and Smith decided that finally making the movie Jacks wanted to see would be a beautiful tribute to him.
Below, listen to and read the Kevin Smith Mallrats 2 quotes and find out how far along the film is.
First up, you can hear all of this on Smith's Hollywood Babble on Podcast. It goes from about 5:30 till about the 10-minute mark.
Kevin Smith Mallrats 2
Don't want to listen? Here's the transcription.
About a year and change ago now Jim Jacks, who was a producer on Mallrats, died. And we talked about him during the show and what a good dude he was....Mallrats came out and died at the box office. It only found an audience later on. But for years Jim Jacks would always be like "We should do a sequel." Because when we were making the movie he was like "This is gonna make $100 million." He was obviously off his f***in' rocker. But he was like "You've gotta come up with a sequel." "And I was like, "I have one already." "What is it?" Mallrats 2: Die Hard in a Mall. And he was like "Oh thats perfect we'll do it."So the movie came out, didn't do any business and no talk of a sequel ever came up again at the studio and what not. But Jim Jacks never f***ing lost faith. Even when I would kick Mallrats and make fun of it, Jacks was always the guy going "No man. Know what would be funny and what's gonna redeem us? Mallrats 2: Die Hard in a Mall." So it was one of those things that was an on going theme in his life.As I said, he passed away a year ago. I had lost touch with him for quite a few years before that and this was the biggest f***ing fan of movies you've ever known in your life. And Clerks was the thing that kicked off my career but Mallrats brought me into a complete different world and that movie doesn't get made without this dude at Universal going "Let's make it, let's make it." So I felt real shitty about missing the last years of his life and I met some people who were like, "We ate with Jim every f***ing Thursday night and he still talked about you." I hadn't seen him in years and he was still talking about me and that movie. So a year ago I was sitting here talking about this shit and I was like "I wanna honor the man in some way" and this is how we're gonna do it. We're gonna finally make the movie I wish to christ I made when he was living, man. So were finally going to make Mallrats 2.
Though it may sound like Smith is making Mallrats 2: Die Hard in a Mall, I don't think that's 100% confirmed. Maybe that's the angle, or maybe he's going with another angle. We don't know. What we do know from a radio interview the director did is the script is half way done and they're beginning to look for financing. He's got three projects he wants to to beforehand, but he's eyeing May 2016 for the start date.
Do you think we'll actually see Mallrats 2? What do you want it to be?