Back in February, it was confirmed that the highly-anticipatedJay & Silent Bob Rebootwill beKevin Smith’s next movie, with the director also returning to play Silent Bob alongside Jason Mewes' Jay. Today we have word that another important member of the director’s “View Askiewniverse” is coming back, with Brian O’Halloran, who played Dante Hicks inClerksand starred in several of Kevin Smith’s movies, returning for this reboot. Here’s what the actor had to say, hinting that he’ll play Dante, and a number of other characters he’s portrayed in the director’s movies.
“Yes, I’m definitely going to be a part of that. We’re going to have a couple of very funny bits with the Kevin Smith characters that I’ve portrayed. I’ve portrayed a number of them at this point, so I think we’re going to bring a variety of them back.”
Among some of the other characters Brian O’Halloran has played in Kevin Smith movies are Gill Hicks, one of the suitors fromMallrats, Jim Hicks, one of the executives inChasing Amy, and Grant Hicks, the news reporter inDogma.ComicBook.comcaught up with Brian O’Halloran at Wizard World Chicago, the same convention where Jason Mewes stated that theJay and Silent Bob reboot scriptwas “amazing.” Brian O’Halloran joked that Jason Mewes “practically lives with Kevin, so he gets to see it,” adding that he just recently spoke with the director about this project last week. Here’s what he had to say below.
“No, I haven’t seen it. I just saw Kevin and talked to him this past Wednesday. He actually came out and opened up for a celebrity roast of me, which happened in New Jersey this past week, so I asked him, ‘Are we getting the script yet?’ He said, ‘I’m just tweaking the final tweaks, and then I’m going to send it to the people I need to send it to.”
Kevin Smith stated just a few weeks ago that theJay and Silent Bob Reboot starts shooting very soon, although there has been no indication if there is an exact production start date in place yet. However, Brian O’Halloran also revealed why this project is moving forward over the long-gestatingClerks 3andMallratsTV series, adding that filming onJay and Silent Bob Rebootwill begin this fall. Here’s what Brian O’Halloran had to say below about theJay and Silent Bob Rebootshooting schedule.
“The script forClerks 3was given to us two and a half, maybe three years ago. We were all gearing up, we were doing the pre-production work and stuff like that. Just through technicalities and logistics, and one of the other cast members just didn’t want to do it anymore, so by that point, we had to put that on the shelf. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. Who knows. It could be revisited. And theMallrats TV seriesis something that Kevin had pitched. He had written a 10-episode treatment that he pitched around to TV networks and streaming networks, and as of right now, they haven’t greenlit it yet, but the thing about TV and streaming stuff is, just because someone doesn’t greenlit something now, doesn’t mean they can’t green light it later on in another year, so that’s in a holding pattern as well. In the meantime, theJay & Silent Bob Rebootis a thing we’re going to tackle. We hope to start shooting, once the logistics are all worked out and the scripts are out, by November. For a release date, most likely by next summer.”
Kevin Smith has said in previous interviews that theJay & Silent Bob Rebootwould poke fun at Hollywood’s recent obsession with reboots, which wasn’t nearly as prevalent when the originalJay & Silent Bob Strike Backmovie hit theaters back in 2001. The original movie, which also featured Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Will Ferrell, Mark Hamill, Chris Rock, Shannon Elizabeth, Ali Larter, Eliza Dushku, Judd Nelson, Carrie Fisher, and many more, wasn’t exactly a box office juggernaut, earning $33.7 million worldwide from a $22 million budget. It remains to be seen if any of these aforementioned stars will be back for the reboot.
