Kevin Smith Reflects on Filming Chasing Amy 25 Years Later
Kevin Smith is known for an array of films ranging from Clerks to Jay and Silent Bob Reboot with [...]
Kevin Smith is known for an array of films ranging from Clerks to Jay and Silent Bob Reboot with many in-between. One of Smith's most critically acclaimed films was Chasing Amy, which was released back in 1997 and starred Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. The romantic comedy came back into play in Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, which saw Affleck and Adams' characters reuniting for the first time onscreen. This week, Smith took to social media to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the day Chasing Amy began production.
"25 YEARS AGO TODAY, we started shooting my 3rd film - the star-crossed love story CHASING AMY.
After the sky-high debut of CLERKS, my second flick, MALLRATS, crashed and burned, earning only $2 million on a $5 million budget. So a year after I was crowned an Indie Film Golden Boy, I became an Indie Film Cautionary Tale. That inspired a return to our low-budget roots with a personal film that doubled-down on the comic-books-centric world of #Mallrats with the comic-book-biz world of #ChasingAmy," Smith shared.
He continued, "We showcased comic conventions and panels, fickle fandom, and made life a little bit harder for inkers. We talked about Archie long before @thecwriverdale made it hip and we had cameos and art by @joequesada, @jimmypalmiotti, and @allredmd (who designed the iconic #bluntmanandchronic costumes)! But while this was a film steeped in comic book culture, it was chiefly a vehicle for change and growth, both professionally and personally. And I couldn't (and wouldn't) have done it without @benaffleck @joeylaurenadams, @cerenandjason, @samosier, @davidkleinasc, #dwightewell, & @jaymewes (and future @minions writer @brianmichaellynch as our Crafty). Thank you, kids, for making this film with me a quarter-century ago."
Smith concluded, "$250k later and less than a year after we started shooting, Amy would premiere to a standing ovation at Sundance 1997. Ben started shooting #GoodWillHunting afterwards (which Scott and I were producers on), Jason Lee and I won Indie Spirit Awards, and Joey got a Golden Globe Nomination. But long before that stuff came to pass, on this day in 1996? We were all just kids trying to prove they belonged at the table."
You can check out Smith's Chasing Amy post below:
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"I wrote an eight-page sequel to Chasing Amy that follows up twenty years later, and functions perfectly within the movie," Smith previously explained of Jay & Silent Bob Reboot. "When you see it, you're going to be like, 'wait, that scene didn't exist when you started the movie? Why would you have bothered?' It is the emotional culmination fo the movie and sends us into a really great place. So he came and did the scene. It's eight pages, and when I sent him the scene, the first thing he texted back was, 'bro -- I have not done this much dialogue in the last three movies I was in.'"
Chasing Amy is currently streaming on HBO Max.