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105-561: Smith and Mosier founded the company in 1994 to produce their first film, Clerks , which was the first film in what is now known as the View Askewniverse . After the film became a success View Askew obtained a larger budget and produced Mallrats in 1995, which underperformed critically and commercially but found success after being released on home video. It was followed by 1997's Chasing Amy and 1999's Dogma . In 2000, View Askew briefly produced Clerks: The Animated Series ,

210-575: 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

315-598: A Mallrats sequel had been turned into plans for a Mallrats TV series. In July 2019, Smith announced that he would do a live reading of Clerks III at the First Avenue Playhouse in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey . The reading was held on August 3, 2019. That same month, Smith revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that he was writing a new script for Clerks III and promised to make the film. On October 1, 2019, Smith confirmed on Instagram that Clerks III

420-457: A Mooby 's restaurant after Randal accidentally destroys the Quick Stop and RST Video while the latter two, having sobered up after six months in rehab, continue their drug selling antics in the parking lot of the restaurant. During interviews for Clerks II , 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

525-481: A 10 year anniversary Q&A with Smith, Mosier, Mewes, O'Halloran, Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti , and cinematographer David Klein , and eight articles and reviews. Many of these features feature new video introductions from Smith and Mosier. All these features were carried over to the 15th Anniversary Blu-ray on November 17, 2009, along with a new documentary, Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party —originally made for Smith's 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back . Unlike

630-408: A DVD on June 29, 1999. The laserdisc and DVD versions feature the original letterboxed version of the film, audio commentary by Smith and various cast and crew members, seven deleted scenes from the film, a theatrical trailer , and a music video for Soul Asylum 's "Can't Even Tell" directed by Smith which features him, Mewes, Anderson and O'Halloran reprising their roles from the film. The film

735-480: A Web-only teaser trailer on the Clerks II website on January 9, 2006, and a web-only trailer on April 2, 2006. Smith also released several shorts featuring action figures from his previous films to promote the film. Before the release of the film, Smith had mentioned releasing an MP3 file commentary to be downloaded and listened to in movie theaters via iPod . Ultimately, theater owners and exhibitors objected, and

840-446: A bag containing what he claims is a diseased human lung corroded by tar. A crowd soon gathers around Dante, hostilely blaming him for the ills of cancer because he sells cigarettes at the man's impassioned urging. Dante's girlfriend Veronica Loughran enters, quickly calms the crowd down with a fire extinguisher, and confronts the man, who is revealed to be a Chewlies representative wishing to sell more gum. She then orders him out along with

945-431: A cake she made for Dante. She throws her engagement ring at Becky, dumps the cake over Dante's head, knees him in the crotch, and storms off in tears. The fire and police departments arrive and Dante, Randal, Elias, Jay, Silent Bob, and The Sexy Stud are arrested as a result of the show. In their jail cell, Dante gets into a heated argument with Randal, angry with him for ruining his life and expresses his eagerness to start

1050-488: A cameo as her character Alyssa Jones , who'd later appear in further View Askewniverse films, for the tenth anniversary DVD release. The "lost scene" was also presented in comic-book form of the Clerks comic book series, with the title of "The Lost Scene". The original ending for the film was meant to continue from when Randal throws the "I Assure You We're Open" sign to Dante. After Randal leaves, Dante proceeds to count out

1155-406: A comedic film with a dark ending. Lee's name can also be seen in the "special thanks" portion of the credits. Smith also stated that he ended Clerks with Dante's death because he "didn't know how to end a film". Both versions are available in Clerks X , the tenth-anniversary special edition; the lost ending itself was among the extras on the 1995 LaserDisc and the 1999 DVD release; Smith states in

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1260-471: A few weeks prior. Becky tells Dante not to tell anyone about the baby. However, he tells Randal but threatens to beat Randal up should he tell anyone. Becky finds out and, furious at Dante for telling Randal, drives off. Randal encourages Dante to leave Mooby's in search of Becky, so he can set up a surprise going away party for him. Randal hires "Kinky Kelly and the Sexy Stud," a donkey show act, complete with

1365-459: A fog machine, for the party. When Dante returns, he mistakes the fog for fire and calls the fire department, but upon discovering that it's not a fire, proceeds to watch with Randal, Jay, Silent Bob, and a very drunk/stoned Elias. The group discovers that "Kinky Kelly" is, in fact, the donkey, while the man, whom Randal thought to be the pimp , is "The Sexy Stud". When Becky returns, she admits that she too loves Dante. As they kiss, Emma arrives with

1470-469: A hockey game with friends later that day, with the boss coming in himself. Arriving to find the locks to the security shutters jammed closed with gum, he drapes a sheet over the shutters with "I ASSURE YOU; WE'RE OPEN!" in shoe polish; he repeatedly laments, "I'm not even supposed to be here today." The first customer of the day is a man who attempts to convince cigarette-buying customers that they should buy Chewlies brand gum instead of cigarettes, displaying

1575-506: A home and a car wash business to run as wedding gifts. Afraid of losing his best friend, Randal becomes resentful towards Dante and Emma's relationship. Jay and Silent Bob have followed Dante and Randal, and now loiter outside of Mooby's. Although they no longer use drugs (after being arrested for possession, sent to rehab , and supposedly becoming devout Born again Christians ), the duo continue to sell them and perform their typical antics in

1680-420: A knack for writing weird, sometimes brilliant, dialogue." Peter Travers gave the film four out of four stars, calling attention to Anderson's "deadpan comic brilliance" and writing that "Smith nails the obsessive verbal wrangling of smart, stalled twentysomethings who can't figure out how to get their ideas into motion." When released, the film was noted for its realism and memorable characters. Clerks won

1785-427: A live interview on Opie and Anthony ; Siegel apologized for cursing and causing a scene, and told Smith that he thinks he is a "fine filmmaker," while still defending his decision to walk out. British presenter and film critic Jonathan Ross has been largely critical of the film, saying he disliked it even more than the first film; he expressed distaste that the film was voted by viewers of his Film 2006 show into

1890-589: A movie that stars Jeff and @briancohalloran, with me and Jay in supporting roles. And it'll be a movie called CLERKS III!" The new script will follow Randal, after surviving a heart attack, and Dante making a movie about their lives at the store, a plot initially conceived as a film adaptation of Clerks: The Animated Series titled Clerks: Sell Out . Principal photography began on August 2, 2021, in Red Bank, New Jersey . Filming wrapped on August 31, 2021. Clerks III had its world premiere on September 4, 2022, at

1995-414: A new life without him, while Randal becomes indignant and condemns Dante for his willingness to live his life under the standards of others and for abandoning their friendship, revealing how upset he is that Dante is moving away. The two then finally realize how much they care about their friendship. Randal proposes that they buy the Quick Stop and re-open it themselves, although Dante says that neither have

2100-513: 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. In July 2013, 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 , stating: "Everything in my life would suck right now if I hadn't made that movie. I'm back in movies now. I've got three lined up, and this

2205-471: A second disc. After the conclusion of the high definition optical disc format war in February 2008, Clerks II was released on Blu-ray Disc on February 3, 2009 with two additional special features. On February 9, 2017, Smith revealed on Facebook that although a script had been completed, Clerks III had been cancelled as "one of the four leads opted out of the flick". He later revealed that Jeff Anderson

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2310-400: A short-lived animated series based on Clerks , which only aired six episodes. They released Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back , which starred Smith and Jason Mewes as their characters Jay and Silent Bob . It was followed by the first non-Askewniverse film, Jersey Girl , which featured many of Smith's frequent cast members. Two years after Jersey Girl , View Askew released Clerks II ,

2415-443: A show which features (at least) three UCLA students who are enrolled in a class about cinematography in which Smith is their teacher. In addition to the various Smith-directed films, the company has produced movies for other directors including Malcolm Ingram 's Drawing Flies and Small Town Gay Bar , Bryan Johnson 's Vulgar , Vincent Pereira 's A Better Place , and Brian Lynch 's Big Helium Dog . The company's logo

2520-477: A stage actor local to Kevin Smith, discovered an audition notice for the film that Smith gave to his community theatre. O'Halloran answered the notice and auditioned, unaware that he would be cast as the film's main character Dante; during auditioning, O'Halloran was informed by a friend of Smith's that all of the main characters were already cast. Smith originally wrote the part of Randal for himself, dryly admitting in

2625-478: A theatrical release on July 21, 2006 to critical and commercial success, grossing $ 27 million worldwide from a $ 5 million budget. A third film was released in 2022. Ten years after the events of the first film , Dante Hicks arrives at the Quick Stop convenience store for another day of work, only to find, upon opening the security shutters, that the store is on fire. Randal Graves , Dante's best friend, had left

2730-498: Is notified that his boss is vacationing in Vermont , leaving him to run the store. Dante convinces his friends to have their hockey game on the roof, and temporarily closes it down. Twelve minutes in, an irate customer arrives, demanding that Dante open the store and criticizing his playing, and ultimately sabotages the game. After Dante discovers that an ex-girlfriend of his, Julie Dwyer, has passed away, he and Randal temporarily depart for

2835-668: Is a montage of Route 35, mostly in Middletown, New Jersey. Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, and Kevin Smith all reprised their roles from the first film. According to the DVD commentary , Kevin Smith originally wanted to cast his wife Jennifer Schwalbach Smith as Becky. Executive producer Harvey Weinstein objected, however, wanting a known actress to play the role for marketing reasons. Other actresses that Smith had met with were Sarah Silverman and Bryce Dallas Howard who both declined. Smith recalls having lunch with Howard who said she

2940-670: Is its fidelity to the original Clerks ethic of hanging out, talking trash and refusing all worldly ambition. If anything, the sequel is more defiant in its disdain for the rat race, elevating the white-guy-doing-nothing prerogative from a lifestyle choice to a moral principle. Justin Chang's review at Variety called it a "softer, flabbier and considerably higher-budgeted follow-up to Kevin Smith's 1994 indie sensation that nevertheless packs enough riotous exchanges and pungent sexual obscenities to make its 97 minutes pass by with ease." At an advance screening for critics, Joel Siegel walked out of

3045-433: Is the fucking grand news. Tusk was the absolute bridge to Clerks III . Because of Tusk , I got my financing for Clerks III ". Smith continued: "A year and change ago, I was trying to fucking desperately get Clerks III made for the 20th anniversary. And that desperation, I must have reeked of it, because I couldn't fucking find money and shit. But it was Tusk , it was people going 'Holy fuck! What else do you have?' And I

3150-606: The Sundance Film Festival in early 1994, Clerks was picked up by Miramax Films and released in theaters. It also became a surprise hit, grossing over $ 3 million in the United States despite never playing on more than 100 theater screens in the United States at the same time. It grossed $ 1.3 million internationally for a worldwide gross of $ 4.4 million. Clerks was re-released on October 18th and 19th, 2024 in select Cineplex theaters for its 30th anniversary. Clerks

3255-496: The " ABC " sequence in which a more vibrant and saturated color temperature is used to give a warm and sunny look that adds to the playful nature of the piece. On the film's MySpace account, a contest was held in which the first 10,000 MySpace users who added Clerks II as a friend would have their name in the theatrical and DVD end credits; the list follows the View Askew and Weinstein Company logos. The names are not present in

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3360-503: The "Award of the Youth" and the "Mercedes-Benz Award" at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival , tied with Fresh for the "Filmmakers Trophy" at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards (Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay and Jeff Anderson for Best Debut Performance). In 2000, readers of Total Film voted Clerks the 16th-greatest comedy film of all time and in 2006, Empire listed Clerks as

3465-488: The "Cat Admiring Bitter Customer", as well as the final RST Video customer in a deleted scene. Smith never intended for Flanagan to play this many roles, but had to as the actors he got to play them just did not show up, and would often, in jest, refer to Flanagan as "the Lon Chaney of the '90s". Flanagan would also appear in Smith's subsequent films as Walt "The Fanboy" Grover opposite Johnson's Steve-Dave. Brian O'Halloran ,

3570-406: The 1994 original a cult hit." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. In a review for The New York Times , A. O. Scott wrote that: What makes Clerks II both winning and (somewhat unexpectedly) moving

3675-580: The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey and was released on September 13, 2022, by Lionsgate and Fathom Events . Following Clerks , Smith set several more films in the same "world", which he calls the View Askewniverse of overlapping characters and stories. Of all of Smith's films, however, Clerks is the one with the most direct spin-off products. A pilot for a live-action TV series

3780-410: The DVD audio commentary to be the reason why he gave Randal his most-liked lines. However, Smith found that writing, directing, working at the store and playing a lead role all simultaneously was too difficult, and he constantly forgot his lines in the process, so he gave the role of Randal to his friend, Jeff Anderson , while Smith took on the less-demanding role of Silent Bob. To acquire the funds for

3885-526: The Independent Feature Film Market, and under Pierson's advice, Smith cut the ending short, ending with Randal's departure and deleting Dante's death. Fans have since analyzed the death of Dante as an homage to the ending of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), which is discussed earlier in the film as Dante's favorite Star Wars movie because "it ended on such a down note". The film's extended cut also implied that, because Randal disconnected

3990-532: The RST Video rental store next door, although he mostly keeps Dante company at the Quick Stop. Dante finds out from him that his unfaithful ex-girlfriend Caitlin Bree, with whom he still secretly communicates, is engaged. Some customers they encounter are angry and demanding, others are clueless and impolite, and still others prove unexpectedly wise. During lunch, Dante and Veronica reconcile their respective sexual pasts. Dante

4095-628: The audio commentary on the 1999 DVD that had he kept the original ending, likely no further View Askewniverse films would have been made. The culprit in question was played by Smith's cousin John Willyung, who went on to appear in Smith's later films (most notably as Cohee Lunden in Chasing Amy and Clerks III and as himself in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot ). On their movie review show , Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert (both of whom had given thumbs-up reviews to

4200-442: The beginning—a return to the cradle of civilization in the great state of #newjersey. It'll be a movie that stars Jeff and @briancohalloran, with me and Jay in supporting roles. And it'll be a movie called CLERKS III! Principal photography began on August 2, 2021 in Red Bank, New Jersey . Filming wrapped on August 31, 2021. The film was released on September 13, 2022 in the United States by Lionsgate (whose film studio acquired

4305-466: The coffee pot on after closing the night before. Because Quick Stop and the adjacent RST Video have been destroyed in the fire, Dante and Randal begin working at a Mooby's fast food restaurant along with devout Christian teenager Elias Grover and their manager Becky Scott . A year later, Dante is planning to leave his minimum wage lifestyle and move to Florida with his wealthy but overbearing fiancée Emma Bunting, whose parents will provide them with

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4410-407: The conversation and questions Dante about his earlier whereabouts, then fines him $ 500 for selling cigarettes to a four-year-old, even though Randal actually sold them. Afterwards, Caitlin visits Dante, having ended her engagement. Torn between her and Veronica, he finally pursues a date with Caitlin, returning to his house to prepare. However, an incident in the store bathroom renders her catatonic; in

4515-520: The credits of Dogma . Smith later modified the title to The Passion of the Clerks , lampooning the title of Mel Gibson 's The Passion of the Christ . According to the DVD documentary, the title was changed to simply Clerks II , due to negative reaction to the "Passion" title. The film was shot from September to November 2005. It was originally scheduled for a 2005 release, and then a January 2006 release, but

4620-702: The credits on the Region 2 DVD. The Mooby's restaurant was a shut-down Burger King at 8572 Stanton Ave in Buena Park, California (near Knott's Berry Farm ), that has since been demolished. The final days of principal photography were filmed at the Quick Stop and RST Video store in Leonardo, New Jersey , with some exceptions, the most notable being the go-kart scene, which was shot at Speedzone in Industry, California . The opening sequence where Randal and Dante are driving to work

4725-419: The credits roll – the soundtrack over it being a cash register making noises – a customer (played by Smith with his beard shaved off) wearing glasses and in a ponytail and a baseball jersey comes into the store, sees no one around (as Dante is lying dead behind the counter), steals a pack of cigarettes, and runs off. The depressing ending was criticized by Bob Hawk and John Pierson after its first screening at

4830-659: The crowd, chiding them for wasting their lives. Shortly after, Dante and Veronica converse behind the counter regarding Dante's current disposition. She then encounters an old boyfriend of hers, a customer named Willam Black, and admits to Dante that she engaged in snowballing with Black and performed fellatio on 36 other guys before their current relationship. Dante jealously considers her past acts as more severe than his own, which include having sex with twelve different women before her. She then storms out, furious with Dante's insensitivity. Dante's best friend, wisecracking slacker Randal Graves, soon arrives late for his own workday at

4935-522: The darkness, she had sex with who she thought was Dante but was really an elderly customer who suffered a fatal heart attack while masturbating to a pornographic magazine Dante provided him earlier. She is carted away in an ambulance along with the corpse. Drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob enter the Quick Stop to shoplift and unsuccessfully invite Dante to party with them after hours. Aware of Dante's problems, Silent Bob tersely reasons that he truly loves Veronica, but Randal reveals he has already confessed

5040-402: The farthest possible exit, thereby making sure everyone noticed his departure. On his blog , Smith criticized Siegel for unprofessional conduct. Cinegeek wrote a profanity-laced tirade in which Stephen and Suzie Lackey referred to the critic performing sexual acts on director M. Night Shyamalan in regard to his praise for The Village before having seen it. Smith later confronted Siegel in

5145-405: The film and was impressed enough to give him a part. In keeping with Smith's tradition of casting actors that he has previously worked with, both Jason Lee and Ben Affleck had parts in the film. Lee played Lance Dowds and Affleck played a random Mooby's customer. After finding no one else who could pull off being the Sexy Stud, Smith turned to crew member Zak Knutson to fill the role. The film

5250-483: The film approximately 40 minutes in, during a scene in which the characters attempt to procure a donkey for sexual purposes. Smith claimed on his website that Siegel "bellowed" the phrase "Time to go! This is the first movie I've walked out on in thirty fucking years!" TV Guide film critic Maitland McDonagh , who said she was sitting next to Siegel, largely confirms Smith's account but insists that Siegel did not curse or "bellow." However, she reports that he left from

5355-406: The film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of a possible four, praising it for interestingly depicting a full day of "utterly authentic" middle-class life, adding: "Within the limitations of his bare-bones production, Smith shows great invention, a natural feel for human comedy, and

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5460-468: The film in 1994) had a special segment on a November 1995 episode that presented and discussed this original ending. Siskel said that having the alternate ending could have worked but it would have to be longer with more build-up to suggest that something like this could happen, while Ebert said he understood Smith's desire to do something memorable/shocking to end the film but concluded "ultimately, I'm glad Smith decided to spare Dante." Originally playing at

5565-623: The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2019 as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". On his day off, Dante Hicks, a retail clerk at the Quick Stop Groceries convenience store in Leonardo, New Jersey , is instructed by his boss via phone call to cover another employee's morning shift. Dante asks to end early at noon to play

5670-402: The film with the more commercially viable "R" rating, without any alterations. The events of Julie Dwyer's wake were written by Smith but were not filmed due to the prohibitive cost of producing the scene. In 2004, the scene was produced in colored animation using the same style of Clerks: The Animated Series , featured O'Halloran and Anderson reprising their roles and Joey Lauren Adams in

5775-421: The film), it presents a day in the lives of store clerks Dante Hicks (O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Anderson) as well as their acquaintances. It is the first of Smith's View Askewniverse films, and introduces several recurring characters, notably Jay and Silent Bob (played by Mewes and Smith respectively). Clerks was initially shot for $ 27,575 before its film rights were purchased by Miramax and $ 230,000

5880-422: The film, Smith sold off a large portion of his extensive comic book collection in 1993, which he later bought back; borrowed $ 3,000 from his parents; maxed out eight to ten credit cards with $ 2,000 limits; and spent a portion of funds he got back from his college education, paychecks from working at Quick Stop and RST, and insurance money awarded for property of his lost and/or damaged in a storm-flood, thus adding up

5985-417: The film, was released on August 22, 2006 by Bulletproof Records. It includes songs from the film, which are of various artists and genres, as well as many soundclips of dialog from the film. One notable exception is that The Smashing Pumpkins ' " 1979 ", which was featured in the film, is not included. It has been replaced by All Too Much's "Think Fast", which was not featured in the film. The Clerks II DVD

6090-486: The film. It has been noted that Clerks is one of the very few films in which the cost of obtaining the rights to the music used was a great portion of the production costs for the entire film. The Soul Asylum song "Can't Even Tell", which was played over the film's end credits and featured on the soundtrack, peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1994. The music video for

6195-636: The first true sequel to a previous Smith film, which features the main characters of the film Clerks continuing ten years later. This film was followed by the second non-Askewniverse film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno . The company has released several of Smith's non-fiction works, such as his four question and answer DVDs, An Evening With Kevin Smith in 2002, An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder in 2006, Sold Out: A Threevening with Kevin Smith in 2008 and Kevin Smith: Too Fat for 40 in 2011. It has produced Sucks Less with Kevin Smith ,

6300-450: The fourth greatest independent film. The film is also No. 33 on Bravo 's 100 Funniest Movies. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked it 13th on "The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83" and 21st on "The Comedy 25: The Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years". Also in 2008, Empire named it one of their "500 Greatest Movies of All-Time", placing it 361st on the list. The film

6405-456: The initial 1999 DVD, Clerks X is no longer in print. The soundtrack was released on October 11, 1994 by Columbia Records under their Chaos imprint. It was composed of various new and previously released songs by alternative rock , grunge and punk rock artists such as Bad Religion , Love Among Freaks , Alice in Chains and Soul Asylum . The soundtrack also featured various sound clips from

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6510-559: The little girl Dante waves to in the window of a restaurant and his mother Grace as the Milk Maid, reprising her role from the first film. Walt Flanagan makes a cameo appearance as a customer who asks for a "pack of cigarettes" (after the film changes from color to black and white), in a nod to the first film as well. The character of Elias was played by Trevor Fehrman who had previously worked in Anderson's film Now You Know . Smith saw him in

6615-465: The memorial service. The visit is disastrous, and the two flee the funeral home; their conversation when they return to the store reveals that Randal accidentally toppled Julie's casket. Two of Dante's former high school classmates, Rick Derris and Heather Jones, inform him that everyone in their graduating class, except for him, knew of Caitlin's infidelity and that Rick even had sexual intercourse with Caitlin. A health department representative interrupts

6720-501: The money to do it. Jay and Silent Bob offer to lend them the money (from the royalty money they collected from the Bluntman and Chronic movie in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back ) provided that they can hang out outside of the store anytime they want without the police being called. Randal accepts their offer, but Dante is uncertain, prompting Randal to emotionally confess his fear of losing Dante. Moved by Randal's confession, Dante agrees to

6825-508: The movie. Many of Smith's family and friends played roles due to budget constraints. One of them, Walt Flanagan , who, in addition to creating the character of Silent Bob's Russian metal-head cousin Olaf, plays four roles in this film: The "Woolen Cap Smoker" in the beginning, the famous "Egg Man" (both in which he reprises in Clerks III ), the "Offended Customer" during the "jizz mopper" scene, and

6930-463: The next day off to visit Caitlin in the hospital and attempt reconciliation with Veronica. Before departing, Randal tosses Dante's shoe-polish sign in his face and declares, "You're closed!" When writing the script, writer and director Kevin Smith based the character of Dante Hicks on himself, Randal Graves on his friend Bryan Johnson , who appeared in Smith's subsequent films as Steve-Dave Pulski, and Jay on Jason Mewes , who ended up playing him in

7035-463: The original characters from Clerks : Dante Hicks , Randal Graves and Jay and Silent Bob ten years after the events of the first film. Unlike the first film, which was shot in black and white, this film was shot mostly in color. The film screened out of competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the 2006 Edinburgh International Film Festival before receiving

7140-410: The parking lot. Dante tells Becky that he is worried about dancing at his wedding, so she takes him up to the restaurant's roof to teach him some moves. Dante soon releases his inhibitions and begins dancing to The Jackson 5 's ABC . When the song ends, Dante, caught up in the moment, confesses his love for Becky, and she reveals that she's pregnant as a result of a one-night stand they had at work

7245-464: The plan was scrapped. The abandoned commentary, featuring Smith, Scott Mosier and Jeff Anderson, is included on the DVD. The bookend Quick Stop scenes are in black and white (to simulate the original visual style of Clerks ), while the rest of the film is in color. Smith has said that much of the film's color was desaturated almost to the point where the film had a similar texture to the first film. The contrast in color saturation used can be seen in

7350-607: The porn videos Randal mentions in the film. Smith was not involved in, nor was aware of this release. Outside the United States, Clerks was distributed in the United Kingdom by Artificial Eye with Fox Video through Fox Guild Home Entertainment handling rental sales, and in Canada by Alliance Atlantis . Since 2020, DVD and Blu-Ray distribution has been handled by Paramount Home Entertainment following Paramount Global 's acquisition of 49% of Miramax. On September 7, 2004, Clerks X

7455-734: The previous events to her, and she furiously and dramatically dumps Dante. Upset and furious, Dante brawls with Randal, trashing the Quick Stop in the process. After a brief crucial moment of clarity between them, Dante rants at Randal, blaming him for the day's events before repeating his relent of "I'm not even supposed to be here today!". Randal furiously blows up at Dante, reminding him that he abandoned his post to slack off several times of his own accord, but arrived at work nevertheless and could've left at any point but didn't, and furthermore neither of them are as "advanced" as they think they are, otherwise they wouldn't be stuck with such lowly jobs. The two reconcile and clean up, with Dante planning to take

7560-420: The production was pushed back due to other projects and Kevin Smith's involvement in the romantic comedy Catch and Release . Smith released production diaries on the Clerks II website (see links below). They chronicle the entire making of the film from the first rehearsals all the way through to the final release. Some of these web diaries are also available on the two-disc DVD of the film. Smith released

7665-404: The proposition. Shortly after, the group is released off-screen without being charged since (as the Sexy Stud had assured them) you can't be imprisoned for watching an inter-species sex act. Soon afterwards, Dante, having embraced fatherhood, proposes to Becky at Mooby's, who happily accepts. After both the Quick Stop and RST Video are rebuilt, Dante and Randal hire Elias to work at RST Video. In

7770-411: The purposes of featuring them in separate films). The producers' solution was to change the character's name to Ray. Smith was unaware of the production of the series until casting was underway. Smith, as well as Mosier and Mewes, had been knee-deep with the production of Mallrats at the time and attempted to become involved in the series, but became disheartened quickly as an episode he had written for

7875-419: The rating, the movie contains no violence aside from Dante and Randal's fight near the end, no sex and no clearly depicted nudity. This had serious financial implications, as very few cinemas in the United States screened NC-17 films. Miramax Films hired civil liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz to appeal the decision. However, the case was ultimately argued by a Miramax Films lawyer. The MPAA relented and re-rated

7980-405: The register and does not notice another person entering the store. Dante at first thinks it's Randal but looks up and informs the person that the store is no longer open. The man then pulls out a gun and shoots Dante, killing him. Afterward, the man puts all the money from the cash register in a bag and walks out of the store. The sequence ends with Dante's dead face looking off past the camera; after

8085-615: 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 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

8190-430: The role down and never offered her the part. Ellen Pompeo expressed an interest but could not commit due to scheduling difficulties with Grey's Anatomy . Finally, the role was offered to Rosario Dawson who loved the script. She later said that reading the "donkey show" scene sealed the deal for her. Schwalbach Smith was given the secondary female role of Emma Bunting. Smith also cast his daughter Harley Quinn Smith as

8295-454: The same continuity as Clerks . Dante and Randal also reprised their roles in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back , which was originally promoted as the finale to the series, but an official sequel to Clerks was announced a few years later. The live-action, feature film sequel to Clerks was released on July 21, 2006. The working title was The Passion of the Clerks , though the film was released under

8400-449: The security camera earlier in the day during the roof hockey scene, the killer would never be caught. Smith has since claimed he concluded Clerks this way for three reasons. The primary reason was irony, the ending would be the payoff for Dante's repeated claims of "I'm not even supposed to be here today!" Smith also stated that the ending was an homage to the ending of one of his favorite films, Spike Lee 's Do The Right Thing (1989),

8505-423: The series was shot down to be used as a potential B-plot. He would later use the script for an episode of Clerks: The Animated Series . O'Halloran and Anderson both auditioned to reprise their roles of Dante and Randal from the film but were replaced by Andrew Lowery and future Saturday Night Live performer Jim Breuer . After seeing the result, Smith, Mosier, Mewes, O'Halloran and Anderson all said that it

8610-441: The song was directed by Smith and was filmed in the same locations as the film. The video featured Smith, Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran reprising their roles from Clerks . Another song which appeared on the soundtrack was " Got Me Wrong " by Alice in Chains, which had previously been released on the band's extended play Sap (1992). The song was issued as a single in late 1994, due to renewed radio interest from

8715-662: The song's appearance in Clerks . The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and #22 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks in early 1995. Although not direct sequels in terms of addressing the original film's storyline, characters from the original Clerks – primarily Jay and Silent Bob – appeared in the films Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), all of which take place in

8820-402: The title Clerks II . The credits for Dogma stated: "Jay and Silent Bob will return in Clerks 2: Hardly Clerkin ' "; however, that project "evolved" into Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back . The sequel features O'Halloran, Anderson, Mewes and Smith (in addition to returning as writer, director and editor) reprising their roles as Dante, Randal, Jay and Silent Bob. The former two now work at

8925-482: The top ten of the year, in which it ranked sixth. It made other Best of 2006 lists, including being named movie of the year by MTV India , being voted the third-funniest film of 2006 by IMDb users and the ninth-best reviewed comedy by Rotten Tomatoes. The film received an eight-minute standing ovation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival . Music from the Motion Picture Clerks II , the soundtrack to

9030-399: The total budget to $ 27,575. Clerks was shot on an Arriflex SR-2 camera, utilizing black-and-white 16mm Kodak Plus X film stock, and roughly edited due to its small budget. The film was shot in 21 days (with two " pick-up " days). The Quick Stop convenience store, located at 58 Leonard Avenue in Leonardo, New Jersey , where Smith worked, was the primary setting for the film. He

9135-462: The very last scene, with the stores open, Dante tells Randal, both having finally taken control of their lives, "Can you feel it? Today is the first day of the rest of our lives." The color then evaporates from the film and the camera pulls back to reveal the milk maid from the first movie still going through all the gallons. In 1999, the original title was slated to be Clerks 2: Hardly Clerkin ' (cf. Jerry Lewis 's Hardly Working ), as seen in

9240-410: Was $ 24.1 million domestically, plus an additional $ 2.8 million from other territories foreign, against its production budget of $ 5 million. Clerks II holds a 63% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , based on 166 reviews with an average rating of 6.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads, " Clerks II dishes up much of the graphic humor and some of the insight that made

9345-484: Was also one of the 500 films nominated for a spot on AFI's 100 Years…100 Laughs but failed to make the top 100. The film was also included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die . In 2019, Clerks was among 25 films chosen to be added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry . Clerks was first released on VHS on May 23, 1995. This was followed by a LaserDisc version on August 30, 1995, and

9450-521: Was causing a delay in several key Clerks III cast and crew members, including Anderson and 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." Smith worked on

9555-418: Was happening and that Jeff Anderson agreed to reprise his role as Randal. "It'll be a movie that concludes a saga. It'll be a movie about how you're never too old to completely change your life. It’ll be a movie about how a decades-spanning friendship finally confronts the future. It'll be a movie that brings us back to the beginning—a return to the cradle of civilization in the great state of #newjersey. It’ll be

9660-514: Was interested in the film but ultimately passed in order to do Lady in the Water . Silverman said she didn't want to play the Becky character as she had been cast as girlfriends in numerous other productions and feared type-casting, but loved the script and would have been more than willing to play the part of Randal Graves. Rachel Weisz was another name the studio considered, but Smith figured she would turn

9765-449: Was like, Clerks III , done. So everybody that's like, 'He failed, he failed', thank you – I failed into Clerks III . So, never trust anybody when they tell you how your story goes, man. You know your story. You write your own story.” 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

9870-440: Was only allowed to film in the store at night while it was closed (from 10:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.), hence the plot point of the shutters being closed due to a vandal having jammed gum in the padlocks. Because Smith was working at Quick Stop during the day and shooting the film at night, he frequently slept no more than an hour a day. By the end of the 21-day shoot, Smith was unable to stay awake while Dante and Randal's fight

9975-676: Was originally a smiling clown with a 5 o' clock shadow dressed in women's lingerie and platform pumps, named "Vulgar" which gained controversy due to its content and was later changed to a cartoon Jay and Silent Bob with film equipment. In 2022, with the release of Clerks III , the logo changed again, this time to Vulgar's face. Clerks (film) Clerks is a 1994 American black-and-white comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith in his feature directorial debut . Starring Smith along with Brian O'Halloran , Jeff Anderson , Marilyn Ghigliotti , Lisa Spoonauer , Jason Mewes , and Scott Mosier (with whom he also produced and edited

10080-445: Was originally planned to be released without an MPAA film rating , in order to avoid receiving an NC-17. Smith claimed "If we put it in front of the ratings board they'd be like, 'You're insane. We have to create a new rating for that.'" However, he later submitted it, and it received an R rating without any edits. The film opened in 2,150 theaters and grossed $ 10.1 million domestically in its first weekend. The film's theatrical gross

10185-448: Was produced in 1995. It was produced by Touchstone Television and was to be developed by Richard Day . The pilot only referenced the character names and starred none of the cast from the original film, contained no foul language (except words suitable enough for a TV-PG rating) and did not feature Silent Bob. The character of Jay was featured, prompting Smith to point out that he owned the character rights to both Jay and Silent Bob (for

10290-433: Was released on November 28, 2006. The Hollywood Reporter reported that the film opened to #4 in terms of rental and DVD sales, and made approximately $ 6 million in rentals, or a quarter of the total box office gross of $ 24.2 million. Clerks II was released on HD DVD on January 16, 2007. The release featured the film in 1080p high definition on one disc and the same extras as the DVD, also presented in 1080p, on

10395-520: Was released on UMD (playable on PlayStation Portable ) on November 15, 2005. Special features include "Clerks: The Lost Scene", "The Flying Car", and original cast auditions. In the fall of 2006, a new edition of the Clerks DVD appeared in Canada, dubbed the Clerks: Snowball Edition . This release is the 1999 DVD with a new slipcover with a photo of a bikini-clad model, made to resemble one of

10500-577: Was released to celebrate the film's tenth anniversary. This three-disc set includes, among other things, the features from the initial 1999 DVD, the aforementioned Lost Scene , an unrestored First Cut featuring the deleted scenes and original ending intact, original cast auditions, a new making-of documentary entitled The Snowball Effect , a Tonight Show short film starring Dante and Randal entitled The Flying Car , Smith and Mosier's student film Mae Day , eight MTV spots with Jay and Silent Bob, deleted scenes from The Snowball Effect , still galleries,

10605-400: Was shot. Jason Mewes, who plays Jay , is not in any of the photoshoots for Clerks . Miramax Films , who bought the film's distribution rights following its run at the Sundance Film Festival , believed Jay had no commercial appeal, and would scare audiences rather than entice them. The MPAA originally gave the film an NC-17 rating based purely on the film's explicit dialogue. Despite

10710-412: Was spent on music licensing and editing. It was shot in the convenience and video stores where Smith worked in real life. Clerks was well received by critics upon its theatrical release and grossed over $ 4 million in theaters, launching his career. In 2006, a sequel was released, followed by a third installment in 2022. Often regarded as a cult classic and a landmark in independent filmmaking,

10815-487: Was terrible, and O'Halloran and Anderson further stating they were both glad they weren't involved. Clerks II Clerks II is a 2006 American black comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith , the sequel to his 1994 film Clerks , and his sixth feature film to be set in the View Askewniverse . The film stars Brian O'Halloran , Jeff Anderson , Rosario Dawson , Trevor Fehrman , Jennifer Schwalbach Smith , Jason Mewes , and Smith, and picks up with

10920-418: Was the one who opted out. On October 1, 2019, Smith announced on Instagram that Clerks III was happening and that Anderson agreed to reprise his role as Randal. It'll be a movie that concludes a saga. It'll be a movie about how you're never too old to completely change your life. It'll be a movie about how a decades-spanning friendship finally confronts the future. It'll be a movie that brings us back to

11025-407: Was well received by critics and developed a cult following . On Rotten Tomatoes , it currently has an approval rating of 90% based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "With its quirky characters and clever, quotable dialogue, Clerks is the ultimate clarion call for slackers everywhere to unite, and, uh, do something, we guess?" On Metacritic ,

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