February 09, 2017
@thatkevinsmith/Instagram
Director Kevin Smith stands in front of a sign for the Exton Square Mall in Chester County. During an interview Friday, June 10, 2016, with the WMMR's 'Preston & Steve' show, Smith says plans are moving forward to shoot a sequel to his film 'Mallrats' as a 10 episode series for television at the mall.
It was too good to be true.
The plug has been pulled on director Kevin Smith's planned sequel to the 1995 cult classic "Mallrats," which was supposed to be filmed at the Exton Square Mall. In a Facebook post Thursday, Smith explained that the project fell through because he converted the script into a series and it didn't get picked up.
The path to this point has been long and winding for Smith, who originally hoped to film the "Mallrats" sequel at the Granite Run Mall in Middletown, Delaware County, a building slated for demolition. When the timelines didn't coincide, Smith moved operations to Chester County, suggesting as recently as last June that the project was still a go.
Smith said much of the trouble he's had is that he no longer owns the rights to most of his films in his fictional View Askewniverse realm. Ultimately, that's what caused the demise of "Clerks III," a script he once said he would shoot in Philadelphia.
There is a silver lining for fans of Smith's work, however. The one series he does still own is "Jay and Silent Bob," so he's now shifting gears to produce a script he recently completed for a reboot. He describes the follow-up to the popular "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" as follows:
And so all last month, I had the time of my life laughing while writing “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” – a fun flick in which the Jersey boys have to go back to Hollywood to stop a brand new reboot of the old “Bluntman & Chronic Movie” they hated so much. It’s a tongue-in-cheek, silly-ass satire that pokes fun at the movie business’s recent re-do obsession, featuring an all-star cast of cameos and familiar faces! And I already met with the good folks at Miramax and they’re into it, so I’m hoping we’ll be shooting in the summer!
It's not exactly Exton, but at least it's another chapter in one of Smith's battle-tested franchises.
