Kevin Smith Talks The DNA Of ‘Mallrats’, Which He Had To Rediscover For ‘Mallrats 2’
WithJay and Silent Bob Reboot, writer and directorKevin Smithdug back into his interconnected series of comedies known as the View Askewniverse. The movie felt like a farewell of sorts to characters fromClerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, andJay and Silent Bob Strike Back, but instead, Smith seems to be reinvigorated to attempt another sequel to one of his movies.
Recently we heard that Kevin Smith wastaking another crack at makingMallrats 2happen. The idea has been kicked around before, and it was even considered as a TV series at one point. But now he’s back with a new focus and a new direction. In fact, Smith recently spoke with our own Peter Sciretta aboutMallrats 2, and he revealed where his head’s at for the sequel this time.
In Peter Sciretta’sOrdinary Adventuresvideo series, our editor-in-chief went to a gallery opening featuring a new piece of artwork byShag(akaJosh Agle) that pays tribute to all of Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse movies. In addition to chatting about Smith’s love of Shag’s artwork andStar Wars, conversation eventually turned toMallrats 2, which Smith has only barely just started writing. The filmmaker said:
“I’ve been writing it all for the last…96 hours. I had to stop to come here. I’m doing this kind of obsessive re-writing within the writing. So rather than just write all the way to the end, I write, and then go back and re-write, go back and re-writer. Now I just started portioning it out to people to see, ‘What do you think?'”
Interestingly enough, Smith had a revelation about his own work onMallrats, and seeminglyMallrats 2, regardingJason Lee’s character Brodie Bruce. Smith explains:
“I had to go back and find the DNA of Mallrats, which was Animal House and Caddyshack. And when you look at it, it’s so weird, because there is no character arc. Because those movies had no character arcs. They were underdogs, and they were kind of deplorable in some cases, but at least they were better than the Nazis next door.”
As for whether or not Brodie Bruce will have a proper character arc forMallrats 2, that remains to be seen. That character has enjoyed quite a storied history in the View Askewniverse, where he was made host ofThe Tonight Show and then went on to own his own comic book shop. Brodie’s story inMallrats, which involves his frustrated girlfriend Rene (Shannon Doherty) is secondary to the love story between T.S. (Jeremy London) and Brandi (Claire Forlani), and there’s no change in his behavior or personality throughout the movie. So what will his story be in Mallrats 2? We’ll have to wait and see.
