Kevin Smith reveals the unexpected reason why Lionsgate let him make Clerks 3. The raw and low-budget comedy Clerks launched Smith as an indie phenomenon way back in 1994. He later revisited the characters from the Quick Stop in the 2006 sequel Clerks II.
Now sixteen years after his last convenience store trip, Smith is ready to return to the place where it all started. Clerks III indeed sees the writer-director in a reflective mood as the sequel enters meta-movie territory, following Clerks originals Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) as they embark upon a mid-life project to make a movie about their own lives. In a very typical autobiographical Smith touch nodding to his own life-altering heart attack, it’s a health scare for Randal that touches off his sudden desire to look back on his own life in movie form.
Smith’s loyal fans are of course ready to follow him anywhere, even into the realm of autobiographical meta-storytelling. Indeed according to Smith, Clerks fans are the actual reason why Clerks III even happened. Appearing at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend to promote the Clerks sequel, Smith revealed that fan willingness to shell out money for physical copies of his films convinced Lionsgate to give him the green light for another Clerks foray (via Slashfilm):
“Lionsgate still makes DVDs and Blu-rays and s–t. They sold DVDs and Blu-rays of ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.’ And, apparently, sold enough to reach out to us and say, ‘We sold so many f—–g DVDs and Blu-rays that if you ever want to make more of this Jay and Silent Bob bulls–t, as long as it’s under this pricepoint, f–k it, have a go at it and s–t. The only reason we got to do that is because you bought hardware, kids. Thank you for that.”
Sales of physical media of course represent a smaller and smaller share of the movie market all the time, as things shift to a streaming- and VOD-heavy model. But apparently Smith’s fanbase still includes a lot of folks who prefer to own physical copies of their favorite movies. And of course there’s a solid argument for shelling out for physical media despite all the space it takes up and waste it creates. Streaming services pick up and drop movies all the time without warning, as Netflix users well know. But buying a physical copy means the movie’s always there on the shelf ready to enjoy, regardless of the unpredictable nature of streaming licensing and VOD availability.
It’s actually no shock to hear that Smith’s fans bought a lot of Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Blu-rays and DVDs. That fandom is incredibly loyal after all, and certainly more-than-willing to support Smith’s movies with their money. There also happen to be a lot of Smith fans who are into collecting things, whether that be comic books, toys or physical copies of their favorite movies. Whatever the reasons for people snapping up all those copies of Smith’s last Jay and Silent Bob movie, the result was that the characters got to return for one more adventure alongside Dante and Randal in Clerks 3. The lesson for all fandoms should be that in order to get more of what they love, they should be ready to reach into their pockets and support the creators.
