Suggesting that the only infestation he’s dealing with is the unnecessary franchise bug, Kevin Smith has confirmed that his recent comment, “I smell a rat,” was a not especially subtle reference to a Mallrats sequel, the scent of which Smith can already pick up from here. “It’s half scripted right now,” Smith recently told Tucson’s Rock 102 KFMA, so this Kevin Smith movie would seem totally ready to shoot. But it turns out Smith still needs to time for “pulling our loot together,” a process of financing and pillaging he believes will be done in time for a May 2016 start of production. He didn’t elaborate as to a plotline, or whether Mallrats 2 would feature a return from beloved 1990s stars like Shannen Doherty, Jeremy London, and shopping malls, although most have since fallen into disrepair.


What Smith did explain was that the idea for Mallrats 2 was born solely out of a desire to entertain himself, as opposed to every thing he’s ever done. “Lately I’ve been doing this thing where I’m like ‘Do you want to do what’s good for your career or do you just want to have fun?’” Smith said of this new experimental phase of total self-indulgence. “Nobody’s clamoring for a Mallrats sequel, but I would love to make one. It’s been like 20 years.”

Before you can expect Mallrats 2, of course, Smith still has Clerks III, the Johnny Depp-starring Yoga Hosers, Anti-Claus, and other things that no one was technically clamoring for, but will nevertheless be a lot of fun for Kevin Smith.