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Kevin Smith admits funding troubles surrounding "Clerks 3." A scene from 2006's "Clerks II" is shown in this file photo.

(File photo )

Up until now, the biggest challenge to "Clerks III" was creator Kevin Smith's own imagination, and the numerous projects it had recently birthed.

But the future of beloved Jersey-centric characters Dante, Randal, Jay and Silent Bob are now in much deeper jeopardy.

Kevin Smith recently told Screen Daily that The Weinstein Company, who own rights to the "Clerks" franchise, passed on the film, citing budget concerns.

Smith told the website that he presented the Weinsteins with a $6 million budget, but was told it was too high, and they would be willing to finance the flick.

In comparison, 2006's "Clerks II" was shot on a $5 million budget and the nearly 20-year-old "Clerks" was cost just $30,000. Each of the films grossed an exponential profit, Variety said.

At New York Comic Con last October, Smith said he hoped "Clerks 3" would be out in time for the series' two-decade anniversary come fall of this year.

Over the last year, the Middletown native has focused mainly on an odd horror movie called "Tusk," which involves a man being forcibly sewn into a walrus suit. Smith wrote and directed the movie set to hit theaters later in the year, Variety said.

In February, Smith said on Reddit that he was taking the spring to shoot a second off-the-wall scare-fest called "Comes the Krampus," based off the European Christmas beast who is said to capture naughty children and carry them in a sack to his lair.

Details on the status of this film were unavailable.

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