Kevin Smith Starts Filming Clerks 3 On His 51st Birthday

[Animous]

Kevin Smith starts filming Clerks III on Monday, August 2, his 51st birthday. Released in 1994, the original Clerks follows Quick Stop convenience store employees Dante and Randal as they pass the tedious work day with humorous discussions on everything from movies to relationships. Clerks was a surprise financial success and is now widely considered a landmark film for both its humble, shoestring production value and incisive depiction of aimless Gen X-ers. It notably launched writer-director Kevin Smith's career, allowing him to build out his cinematic universe known as the "View Askewniverse" with follow-up films like Mallrats and Chasing Amy.

The filmmaker eventually checked back in on Dante and Randal's professional malaise with Clerks II, which picks up 10 years after the original with the duo now working at a Mooby's fast food restaurant after Randal accidentally burns down the Quick Stop. Like the first film, Clerks II proved successful at the box office and received positive reviews, with critics admiring Smith's balance of the original's raunchy humor with Dante and Randal's new, increasingly complex middle-age crises. Rumblings of a third Clerks movie arose back in 2012 when Smith announced it would be his last movie before retiring. Whether or not Smith will stay true to his retirement plan remains to be seen, but the 50-year-old writer-director appears to have timed the production of Clerks III perfectly with three personal milestones.

RELATED: Clerks 2: Every Cameo In Kevin Smith' View Askewniverse Sequel

Kevin Smith tweeted a video explaining that Clerks III begins filming tomorrow, August 2, coincidentally the same day as his 51st birthday. In the video, he also notes that the third reason August 2 is such a momentous day is because it marks the 30th anniversary of the first time he saw Slacker, Richard Linklater's similarly influential comedy about 30-something loafers that inspired Smith to make Clerks. Check out Smith's tweet and accompanying video below:

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Despite mostly working within his View Askewniverse, Smith has ventured out into bolder genre territory over the last decade. His 2011 film Red State starring John Goodman and Melissa Leo marked his first foray into horror, a genre he explored further with Tusk in 2014 and Yoga Hosers in 2016. He returned to the Askewniverse two years ago with the release of Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, the sequel to Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back brimming with cameos from frequent collaborators like Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Jason Lee.

Clerks III's production coinciding with his 51st birthday truly illustrates how much Smith has evolved over the course of his 30-year career. After suffering a near-fatal heart attack in 2018, Smith has been extremely public about his health struggles and dieting habits, proof that he's come a long way from the edgy, cynical filmmaker he was when he made Clerks. With Clerks III set mostly at the original Quick Stop, it's sure to be the perfect epilogue to mirror Smith's own career, as he transformed from a real-life convenience store clerk to one of the signature filmmakers of his generation.

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