Clerks

The events of Julie Dwyer's wake were scripted by Smith, but were not filmed due to the prohibitive cost of producing the scene.[7] For the tenth anniversary Clerks X DVD release, the scene was produced in color using an animation style similar to that of Clerks: The Animated Series. The "lost scene" was also presented in comic-book form of the Clerks comic book series, with the title of "The Lost Scene".[8]

The original ending for the film was meant to continue from when Randal throws the "I Assure You We're Open" sign to Dante. After Randal leaves, Dante proceeds to count out the register and does not notice another person entering the store. Upon Dante's informing the latecomer that the store is no longer open, the customer shoots Dante, killing him. Afterward, the killer makes off with all the money from the cash register. The sequence ends with Dante's dead face looking off past the camera; after the credits roll - the soundtrack over it being a cash register making noises - a customer (played by Smith with his beard shaved off) wearing glasses and in a ponytail and a baseball jersey comes into the store, sees no one around (as Dante is lying dead behind the counter) and steals some cigarettes.[9]

The depressing ending was criticized by Bob Hawk and John Pierson after its first screening at the Independent Feature Film Market, and under Pierson's advice, Smith cut the ending short, ending with Randal's departure and deleting Dante's death. Fans have since analyzed the death of Dante as an homage to the ending of The Empire Strikes Back, which is discussed earlier in the film as Dante's favorite Star Wars movie because "it ended on such a down note". Deleted scenes from the film's extended cut also implied that the killer would never be caught, as Randal disconnected the security cameras earlier in the day.

Kevin Smith has since claimed he concluded Clerks this way for three reasons. The primary reason was irony, the ending would be the payoff for Dante's repeated claims of "I'm not even supposed to be here today!" Smith also stated that the ending was an homage to Spike Lee's ending to Do The Right Thing, a comedic film with a dark ending. Lee's name can even be seen in the "special thanks" portion of the credits. Smith also stated that he ended Clerks with Dante's death because he "didn't know how to end a film".[9][10] Both versions are available in Clerks X, the 10th-anniversary special edition; the lost ending itself was among the extras on the 1995 LaserDisc and the 1999 DVD release; Smith states in his commentary on the 1999 DVD that had he kept the original ending, likely no further View Askewniverse films would have been made. The culprit in question was played by Smith's cousin John Willyung, who went on to appear in later films (most notably as Cohee Lunden in Chasing Amy).

The film became a surprising success after it was taken by Miramax Films and grossed over $3 million in the United States, despite never playing on more than 50 theater screens in the United States at the same time.[11]

The film was well received by critics and is a cult film.[12] It currently has an 88% "Certified Fresh" rating based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 7.42/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "With its quirky characters and clever, quotable dialogue, Clerks is the ultimate clarion call for slackers everywhere to unite, and, uh, do something, we guess?"[13] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[14] In his 1994 review of Clerks, Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of a possible four. Ebert praised the film for interestingly depicting a full day of "utterly authentic" middle-class life, adding: "Within the limitations of his bare-bones production, Smith shows great invention, a natural feel for human comedy, and a knack for writing weird, sometimes brilliant, dialogue."[15] Peter Travers gave the film four out of four stars, calling attention to Anderson's "deadpan comic brilliance" and writing that "Smith nails the obsessive verbal wrangling of smart, stalled twentysomethings who can't figure out how to get their ideas into motion."[16]

When released, the film was noted for its realism and memorable characters. Clerks won the "Award of the Youth" and the "Mercedes-Benz Award" at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, tied with Fresh for the "Filmmakers Trophy" at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards (Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay and Jeff Anderson for Best Debut Performance).[17] In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Clerks the 16th-greatest comedy film of all time and in 2006, British film magazine Empire listed Clerks as the 4th greatest independent film. The film is also No. 33 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked it 13th on "The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83"[18] and 21st on "The Comedy 25: The Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years".[19] Also in 2008, Empire named it one of their "500 Greatest Movies of All-Time", placing it 361st on the list.[20] The film was also one of the 500 films nominated for a spot on AFI's 100 Years…100 Laughs but failed to make the top 100. The film was also included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

In 2019, Clerks was among 25 films chosen to be added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.[21]

On September 7, 2004, a tenth anniversary edition of Clerks was released. The 3-disc set is commonly known as Clerks X as part of the Miramax Films Collector's Series. The features for this version of the DVD include:

• A 24-page color booklet featuring thoughts on the film from Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier ten years after making it. The booklet also features various reprints of reviews and images of posters and memorabilia from the film's release. Smith states in the booklet that Clerks II would be filmed in 2005.

Disc 1 – Theatrical Feature

• The original theatrical cut of the film in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.
  • The original 1995 laser disc commentary track.
  • An "enhanced playback track" featuring trivia subtitles and title card descriptions.
• "Clerks: The Lost Scene" animated short. This scene was originally written in the screenplay for the film but was never shot. For the DVD, the scene was animated in the same style as Clerks: The Animated Series. The scene can be presented in two different ways.
  • The scene can be viewed separately from the film with an introduction by Smith and Mosier.
  • The DVD also presents the owner with the ability to play the theatrical cut of the film with the animated scene as if it were part of the feature.
• The Flying Car, a short film featuring Dante and Randal. The short was shot in 2001 for The Tonight Show and features the two main characters from Clerks stuck in traffic having a somewhat similar conversation as the one in Clerks where the two are driving to a funeral and discussing sexual curiosity. On the DVD, the short is presented in its original cut with an introduction from Smith.
• A series of short television ads that MTV commissioned from Kevin Smith featuring Jay and Silent Bob. Eight of them appear on the DVD, two of which have edited soundtracks (MTV also aired a special that Smith hosted but it could not be secured for the DVD for clearance reasons). The spots are introduced by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier.
• An original film trailer for the film edited by Matthew Cohen with a brief introduction from Kevin Smith.
• The original music video for "Can't Even Tell" performed by Soul Asylum directed by Kevin Smith. The music video is introduced by Smith and Scott Mosier.
• Three short featurettes about the restoration process used to recreate the feature film for the Clerks X DVD. In the first featurette, Scott Mosier describes the sound restoration process. In the second, David Klein explains the visual restoration process. The third featurette is hosted by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier as a general introduction to the restored version of the film.
• Original auditions for the film featuring Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Ernest O'Donnell. The auditions are introduced by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier.
• DVD-ROM features.

Disc 2 – Clerks: The First Cut

• The very first cut of the film before it was edited for theaters. It features additional scenes and the original ending intact, less sound production, and the original soundtrack which featured music by Love Among Freaks exclusively. This version replicates what Smith showed to film critics and journalists before taking the film to Sundance and selling it to Miramax. It was taken from a Super-VHS tape and unlike the theatrical release underwent no apparent restoration. It is included in the 10th anniversary set in lieu of the collection of deleted scenes that had appeared in the previous DVD issue.
  • Audio and video commentary for the first cut of the film. The commentary was recorded in 2004 with Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson and Jason Mewes.

Disc 3 – Bonus Features

• "Snowball Effect", a 90-minute retrospective documentary for Clerks that focuses on Smith's early inception of the film, the process of making and distributing and finally, the reaction and response to the film from critics and fans.
• Mae Day: The Crumbling of a Documentary, a short student film that Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier made during their time at film school. It comes with an introduction by Smith and Mosier.
• 10th Anniversary Q&A session with Kevin Smith, David Klein, Scott Mosier, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran.
• 13 deleted scenes and outtakes from Snowball Effect
• A still photo gallery of over 50 photographs and production images from Clerks as well as early photos of crew and cast members.
• Two collections of journal entries written by Smith. The first entries were written before finishing Clerks and the second were written while Smith took the film to Sundance Film Festival.
• Eight articles and reviews about the film.

The live-action, feature film sequel to Clerks was released on July 21, 2006. The working title was The Passion of the Clerks, though the film was released under the title Clerks II. The credits for Dogma stated "Jay and Silent Bob will return in Clerks 2: Hardly Clerkin' "; however, that project "evolved" into Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The sequel features Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran reprising their roles as Dante Hicks and Randal Graves. The two now work at a Mooby's restaurant after Graves' incompetence resulted in the destruction of the Quick Stop and RST Video.

During press for Clerks II, Smith briefly discussed the possibility of a Clerks III. Stating that "if there's ever gonna be a Clerks III, it would be somewhere down the road in my 40s or 50s, when it might be interesting to check back in on Dante and Randal. But I don't know about Jay and Bob so much, 'cause at 45, leaning on a wall in front of a convenience store might be a little sad."[26] Smith repeated this sentiment on one of the audio commentary tracks on the Clerks II DVD, to which Jeff Anderson jokingly replied, "Oh, don't get me started", referring to Anderson's well known doubts about making Clerks II when first approached by Smith.

On March 29, 2012, Smith expressed his interest in producing Clerks III as a Broadway play after seeing the Theresa Rebeck comedy Seminar starring Alan Rickman, with whom Smith had previously worked on Dogma.[27]

On December 10, 2012, Smith released a special Hollywood Babble-On episode, Hollywood Babble-On #000: GIANT SIZED ANNUAL # 1: CLERKS III, AUDIENCE 0, in which he revealed greater details on his plans for Clerks III. Smith stated that an ongoing audit over residuals from Clerks II with The Weinstein Company was causing a delay in several key Clerks III cast and crew members, including Anderson and Scott Mosier, from coming on board until the audit was resolved. Smith also revealed that he would like to crowdsource Clerks III, either through Kickstarter or Indiegogo, with contributors receiving anything from DVDs, posters, and even roles as extras in the film.[28] On June 5, 2013, he changed his mind on crowdsourcing, stating "I've got access to money. And worst-case scenario, I can put up my house."[29]

Smith worked on a script for Clerks III from March[30] to May 2013, stating when he completed it that it was "The Empire Strikes Back" of the series.[31] In July 2013, Mewes stated that they were now just waiting to hear back from The Weinstein Company about funding.[32]

On September 26, 2014, Smith stated on his Hollywood Babble-On podcast,[33] that he was glad that he made Tusk, stating, "Everything in my life would suck right now if I hadn't made that movie. I'm back in movies now. I've got three lined up, and this is the fucking grand news. Tusk was the absolute bridge to Clerks III. Because of Tusk, I got my financing for Clerks III". Smith continued: "A year and change ago, I was trying to fucking desperately get Clerks III made for the 20th anniversary. And that desperation, I must have reeked of it, because I couldn't fucking find money and shit. But it was Tusk, it was people going 'Holy fuck! What else do you have?' And I was like, Clerks III, done. So everybody that's like, 'He failed, he failed', thank you - I failed into Clerks III. So, never trust anybody when they tell you how your story goes, man. You know your story. You write your own story.”[34]

There were plans to start shooting Clerks III in May 2015, but these were put on hold to film another sequel, Mallrats 2.[35] However, by June 2016 the plans for a Mallrats sequel had been turned into plans for a Mallrats TV series.[36]

In July 2019, Smith announced that he'll do a live reading of Clerks III at the First Avenue Playhouse in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. The reading was held on August 3, 2019.[37][38] That same month, Smith has revealed at San Diego Comic Con that he's writing a new script for Clerks III and promises to make the film.[39]

On October 1, 2019, Smith confirmed on Instagram that Clerks III was happening and that Jeff Anderson agreed to reprise his role as Randal. "It’ll be a movie that concludes a saga. It’ll be a movie about how you’re never too old to completely change your life. It’ll be a movie about how a decades-spanning friendship finally confronts the future. It’ll be a movie that brings us back to the beginning—a return to the cradle of civilization in the great state of #newjersey. It’ll be a movie that stars Jeff and @briancohalloran, with me and Jay in supporting roles. And it’ll be a movie called CLERKS III!"[40] The new script will follow Randal, after surviving a heart attack, and Dante making a movie about their lives at the store,[41] a plot initially conceived as a film adaptation of Clerks: The Animated Series titled Clerks: Sell Out.

A pilot for a live-action TV series was produced in 1995.[42] It was produced by Touchstone Television and was to be developed by Richard Day. The pilot only referenced the character names and starred none of the cast from the original film, contained no foul language (except words suitable enough for a TV-PG rating), and did not feature Silent Bob. The character of Jay was featured, prompting Smith to point out that he owned the character rights to both Jay and Silent Bob (for the purposes of featuring them in separate films). The producers' solution was to change the character's name to Ray. Kevin Smith was unaware of the production of the series until casting was underway. Smith had been in production with Mallrats at the time and attempted to become involved in the series but became disheartened quickly as an episode he had written for the series was shot down to be used as a potential B-plot. He would later use the script for an episode of Clerks: The Animated Series.[43]

O'Halloran and Anderson both auditioned for the role of Dante Hicks (as Anderson's part of Randal Graves from the film had already been filled by future SNL performer Jim Breuer). After seeing the result, Smith said that it was terrible, and O'Halloran and Anderson said they were both glad they did not get the part.[43]

Touchstone Television (with Miramax Films) also produced Clerks: The Animated Series a short-lived six-episode animated television series featuring the same characters and cast of the original film. Two episodes aired on the ABC network in late May/early June 2000 before being pulled from the lineup. The full six episodes were released on DVD in 2001 before being run on Comedy Central in 2004 and Adult Swim in 2008–10. In a trailer for (but not in) Smith's 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Randal remarks on the series, saying to Dante: "If you were funnier than that, ABC would've never cancelled us."

Clerks. is a series of comics written by Kevin Smith featuring characters from the film. In the series are Clerks: The Comic Book, Clerks: Holiday Special, and Clerks: The Lost Scene. Smith has discussed plans for Clerks 1.5, a comic that would bridge the gap between the original film and its sequel, to be included in a reprint of the Clerks. trade paperback.[44] The story ultimately was printed in the 2006 Tales from the Clerks collection, which also included the other Clerks comics with additional View Askewniverse material. Smith received the Harvey Award for his efforts.

Shooting Clerks is a biographical comedy-drama film about the making of Clerks. The film stars many of the original film's stars, including Brian O'Halloran, Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Jason Mewes, as well as Kevin Smith himself.[45] Smith also served as the film's executive producer.[46] The film had its world premiere at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2019.[47]