Clerks III To Start Filming in May, Kevin Smith Seemingly Cancels Retirement
In a new Facebook post discussing his plans for Helena Handbag, filmmaker Kevin Smith told fans [...]
In a new Facebook post discussing his plans for Helena Handbag, filmmaker Kevin Smith told fans that he intends to begin shooting Clerks III in May 2014, and will shoot that film before he begins work on Helena. His comments, which address his plans as a filmmaker "from now until I drop dead," seem to implicitly suggest that his planned "retirement" after Clerks III has been called off. He also addresses, without specifically saying as much, what it is that apparently made him think retirement was his best way forward, and noted that he no longer needs feature films to make a living, which has allowed him to reassess what it means to him and how to approach it.
"On the most recent episode of SModcast, I talked about my new mantra in regards to filmmaking: from now until I drop dead, I'm only ever gonna make a flick that only I would/could ever make," Smith wrote. "Jersey Girl, Zack & Miri, Cop Out - while I love them all, these are movies anybody could make. Like 'em or hate 'em, nobody else but me could've (or would've) ever made Clerks. Or Chasing Amy. Or Dogma. Or Red State. Or Clerks II. Or Mallrats. Or Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. I let my view askew get standardized for awhile there - so much so that I was happy to walk away from it all for three years and do other s--t. But after conceiving and shooting Tusk in less than 6 months (with the help of a s--t ton of amazing professionals and a budget smaller than that of Red State), I realized that film isn't in my blood... MY films are in my blood. And some of 'em are still in there, so I better get 'em out! And now that I've spent the last three years clothing/feeding/housing me and my family without a dime of movie money, I know that I don't NEED film to pay my bills anymore. So I can make a movie when I feel like it, and if I've got nothing to say in a screenplay, I can just f--- off for awhile and do other s--t until I do have a movie in me."
