“As a celebration of life and a big ol’ F you to Death, my best friend and I will be rolling cameras on a sequel/remake/reboot of a movie we first made nearly twenty years ago! ”
On Friday, January 25th, Kevin Smith confirmed via his Twitter account that thanks to Saban Films, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Content Group, and Legion M, the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot had officially been green lit (no, not that kind of lit green), and principal photography will begin on February 25th.
SNOOGANS! To celebrate my 25th anniversary at Sundance, I’m pleased as a pot-head to announce that the good folks at SABAN and UNIVERSAL have given the green light to #JayAndSilentBobReboot! @JayMewes and I start shooting on 2/25 (the one year anniversary of my heart attack)! https://t.co/fFTO9AFZbk
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) January 25, 2019
Smith also shared the news on Instagram.
Saban Films will release the motion picture theatrically, and production is currently underway. Saban Films’ Bill Bromiley and Jonathan Saba negotiated the deal for Saban Films with Jackie Eckhouse of Sloss Eckhouse LawCo on behalf of the filmmakers. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Content Group has picked up all international rights. Jordan Monsanto of Smodco and Destro Film’s Liz Destro are producing the picture.
“Jay and Silent Bob is a global franchise which has a very loyal fan base. Partnering with Kevin at script stage on the next chapter of these iconic characters is a huge milestone,” said Bromiley. “This is the beginning of a new initiative at Saban Films, to partner on IP with seasoned filmmakers and talent early on in the creative process all the way through distribution.”
Smith, who suffered a massive heart attack on February 25th, after performing the first of what was supposed to be two shows for his Silent But Deadly comedy special, is taking the anniversary of his near death to launch this new chapter in his career.
“Last February, I almost died,” said Smith. “So on the one year anniversary of my widow maker heart attack, as a celebration of life and a big ol’ F you to Death, my best friend and I will be rolling cameras on a sequel/remake/reboot of a movie we first made nearly twenty years ago!”
“I’ve learned so much as a storyteller and have grown immensely as a filmmaker...”
Smith explained that fans can expect a more seasoned approach from him in taking on the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
“But I’ve learned so much as a storyteller and have grown immensely as a filmmaker since then, so audiences can expect something completely different: In Jay & Silent Bob Reboot our herbal heroes find out Hollywood is making a reboot of the old movie that was based on them, so they journey out to Hollywood to stop it again. I offer my (literal) undying thanks to our amazing partners at Saban and Universal for making this dream come true and backing this cinematic silliness!” Smith added.
“I’m tired of doing Shakespeare all the time, so it’ll be nice to get back to playing Jay again.”
Smith’s hetero life-mate and costar, Jason Mewes, also feels like he’ll bring more to the Jay his “character” in the upcoming picture.
“I’m tired of doing Shakespeare all the time, so it’ll be nice to get back to playing Jay again,” said Mewes. “It may be 25 years since I first played the idiot man-child from Jersey, but this time’s going to be the best because I’ve really grown into the role of idiot man-child in my old age.”
Smith and Mewes recorded an exclusive video for the special announcement of additional financing from Legion M that was released Friday.
Smith alluded to a casting call in an Intagram post and also made an announcement to the audience in attending the live recording of the latest episode of Jay & Silent Bob Get Old.
“….we have the big gigantic final scene of the movie that requires a massive crowd scene.”
"We head to Louisiana to start shooting in February so if you are interested at a certain point — I think it's near the last two week's of the shoot — we have the big gigantic final scene of the movie that requires a massive crowd scene,” said Smith. “So if you are interested in that sort of thing and you have the time. It doesn't pay. It's kind of a voluntary gig. You'd sit around, get free food and probably a free t-shirt, and you'd get to sit around and watch us make the movie. And even better you'd get to be in the movie and stuff."
You Can Reboot, Too!
On January 19th, Smith announced a special promotion being done in conjunction with WW. One lucky WW member will win a walk-on role in the upcoming film. Entries to the contest will be accepted until 1/31/2019.
Hey #WWFamily! Wanna win a walk-on in #JayandSilentBobReboot? Screenshot your @ww_us app showing you have 200+ #WellnessWins and share to Instagram/Twitter by 1/31/19 with hash #KSxWWSweepstakes! Full rules: https://t.co/pqYwQRLfFg. NoPurNec21+ members as of 1/18 #WWAmbassador pic.twitter.com/MiiKxdk6Do
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) January 19, 2019
Throughout 2018, attendees to the live recordings of the Jay & Silent Bob Get Old podcast have been privy to scenes from the upcoming picture as performed by Smith and Mewes. These scenes were acted out exclusively for the live audience and not included on the released podcasts.
So SNOOGANS and SNOOTCHIE BOOTCHIES to the fans of Jay and Silent Bob, and get ready to REBOOT!
