Director Kevin Smith provided a shooting update from the set of Clerks 3 as well as side-by-side photos of the reunited cast this summer and the same group filming Clerks 2 in 2006. Clerks 3 will reintroduce audiences to Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) as the former Quick Stop employees return to their old stomping ground. Rosario Dawson and Trevor Fehrman will also reprise their roles from Clerks 2 as Becky and Elias, respectively.
The plot of Clerks 3 will center on Randal, once just the caustic sidekick, as he suffers a massive heart attack. Following the near-death experience, Randal sets out to document his and Dante’s experiences working as clerks. Randal’s time as an acerbic RST Video employee will surely come in handy in his foray into filmmaking. The story is largely autobiographical for the director; Smith nearly died from a heart attack in 2018.
Smith updated fans of the View Askewniverse franchise on Twitter, shouting out the cast and crew for their hard work and sharing a comparison photo of the cast on the set of Clerks 2 from 2006 and the group now, on the set of Clerks 3. Shooting for Clerks 3 began on August 2nd—coincidentally, the director’s 51st birthday—and things seems to be going swimmingly. Shooting yesterday, the director noted, even ran ahead of schedule. Check out Smith's post below:
The update arrives on the heels of Clerks 3’s first look image reveal in yesterday’s Vanity Fair. When the gang was last seen, Dante and Randal were, thanks to some funds rustled up by Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), quitting their jobs at the fast food eatery, Mooby’s, and re-opening the Quick Stop. Smith has indicated that both the Quick Stop and Mooby’s will play a role in Clerks 3. Indeed, in the first look photo, Dawson can be spotted wearing a Mooby’s zip-up. Though fifteen years have elapsed between the two photos, the cast seems to have had no problem reigniting their chemistry, shooting over nine pages of the script in a single day.
Given its autobiographical nature, Clerks 3 will likely be the most nostalgia-tinged feature of the franchise. Smith admitted that the film would function as a mid-life crisis for the titular clerks, and there is no doubt that Smith’s own brush with mortality will color part three. Adding to the nostalgic atmosphere is the fact that Clerks 3 will partially be shot in black and white, an obvious callback to the original 1994 film. Seeing the on-set photo next to one from 2006 only hammers home the passage of time that will come to define the franchise’s most wistful outing yet. The cast members may have aged, but they look as chummy as ever.
Source: Kevin Smith