It looks like Kevin Smith’s plans for “Clerks 3,” which he initially wanted to start shooting in May, have been derailed.
Smith told Screen Daily that The Weinstein Company, who own the rights to the franchise, passed on the sequel.
“[The Weinsteins] passed,” Smith said. “I went in with a $6 million budget and they were like, ‘Oh no, Kevin. This is too high.’ Bob offered us distribution, but they weren’t going to finance it.”
“Clerks II” reportedly cost $5 million to make and grossed $24 million Stateside in wide release. The original pic was shot with less than a meager $30,000 and earned $3 million in very limited release.
In the meantime, the writer-director is already working on a spinoff to his upcoming horror movie “Tusk.”
“Like ‘Tusk,’ ['Yoga-Hosers'] sprang out of a podcast,” Smith said. “There are two characters in a convenience store in ‘Tusk’ that you see for five minutes, very much Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I’ve built a whole movie around them and I have brought one of the other characters from ‘Tusk’ back.”
“Tusk” will hit theaters later this year.
Source: Variety.
