Last March, directorKevin Smithrevealed that he is making a sequel to his 1995 comedyMallrats, with the filmmaker teasing the addition of practically every main cast member from the original movie. Last May, the filmmaker said that the sequel will be calledMallBrats, and that he has a completed script, with another report from September revealing that shooting would begin in January 2016. That was the last we heard about the project, but during a new radio interview, the filmmaker revealed that this sequel has now transformered into a TV series.
Kevin Smithexplained in a previous update that he would shootMallrats 2at the Exton Square Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but as he revealed in a radio interview with Philadelphia’s WMMR, his plan hit a big snag. The director’s agent originally told him that Universal would likely just let the rights toMallratsgo for the director to make a sequel. But it turns out that wasn’t the case, since the studio has never relinquished one of their catalog titles before. After he directed an episode ofThe Flashearlier this year, though, he started reconfiguring the sequel into a TV series. Here’s what the director had to say, while also dropping news that hisBuckaroo BanzaiTV series has found a home.
“It is happening, it’s just taking us a longer time to build it. What we did is reconfigured it.Mallratsis a 20-year-old movie, and the idea of sequelizing a 20-year-old movie, to some people, they’re like, ‘Well, why would you bother? It wasn’t successful the first time.’ However, I went and directed an episode ofThe Flashthis past season. I loved doing it. I get to go back in August and I get to do another one. When I went up there, that was a big game-changer for my career. Apparently, that was some of the best work I had done in a long time, not just the Internet, but the press, in terms of directing. I felt at home, in the medium. Because I did the episode ofThe Flash, MGM reached out aboutBuckaroo Banzai, and suddenly that came together. We went out and pitched yesterday, and found a home for it. I can’t say who it is, because the deal isn’t final, but yesterday, we soldBuckaroo Banzaias a TV series. Now that I’m in that world and space, a couple of months ago, we started reconfiguring the idea of doingMallrats, not as a film, but as a series. Universal and I are just about to close our deal to doMallratsthe series, then we take it out and find a home for it. So, instead of doing aMallratsmovie, I’m going to do 10 episodes of aMallratsseries instead.”
WhenMallrats 2was coming together as a movie sequel, the director announced that he would come back as Silent Bob, alongsideJoey Lauren Adams(Gwen),Renée Humphrey(Trish) andSven-Ole Thorsen(LaFours),Jason Mewes(Jay),Ethan Suplee(William),Jason Lee(Brodie),Stan Lee(Himself),Michael Rooker(Mr Svenning),Shannen Doherty(Rene) andJeremy London(T.S. Quint) reprising their roles. The director hasn’t confirmed if they will all be back for the TV series, or if it will feature an entirely new cast. However, the director did say that he still plans on shooting the series in Philadelphia’s Exton Square Mall.
“My plan is still to do it there, because the Exton Square Mall people were absolutely lovely, and the mall is perfect for our needs. As far as I’m concerned, that’s where we’re going. I’ve been quiet on that front for awhile, because I haven’t been able to say anything, but now I can. As soon as we take it out into the world to sell it, I’ll let people know where it is and where we’re going. Who knew that TV would be the salvation of that movie?”
Aside from his episode ofThe Flash,Kevin Smithpreviously directed the pilot episode ofReaper, and he also hosts and serves as an executive producer on AMC’sComic Book Men. He also produced an animated version of his directing debutClerks, although he wasn’t involved in the live actionClerks pilot, which starredJim BreuerandAndrew Lowerythat was never aired. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on this newMallratsTV series as soon as more information is released.
