Kevin Smith Says Mallrats 2 Will Be John Hughes, Only Dirtier
Yoga Hosers director is ready to stop messing with his audiences.
As part of his publicity tour for Yoga Hosers, Kevin Smith has been talking to Den Of Geek about 5h3 forthcoming Mallrats 2 TV project.
“Right now, the deal with Universal is locked. So we go out right after [San Diego] Comic-Con, and pitch to all the networks and streaming networks as well, to find a home. So, I feel pretty good about it. Universal, they have a pretty good track record at placing shows and whatnot... Within a month we’ll know what our future is going to be, which is amazing”.
The TV format obviously gives Smith more space to play:
“[It] gives me more time to tell that goofy story. You know, I would have had ninety minutes to tell that story, now you get like maybe ten half-hour episodes. It’s like five hours to tell the f*cking same story, so I get to really flesh out the characters and make a f*ck tonne of jokes and stuff. Um, and kind of bring them in gradually over the course of the show. So I look forward to it. A different kind of storytelling."
Smith also talked about the improbability of the movie inspiring a show, given that nobody liked it when it came out. But cult is a powerful thing, and Mallrats is legitimately one of Smith's better movies, and those characters deserve more time. If it means we get to see Jason Lee redeem himself too, that can be no bad thing.
He says that his agenda at the minute is to "‘make it fun for me’, usually at the expense of the audience." He even acknowledges that Tusk and Yoga Hosers fit in with that provocative agenda, but Mallrats won't be like that.
For one, it will return to his sort of inspiration: John Hughes.
“Mallrats was me trying to make a John Hughes movie. So now it’s like, you know, thinking about making Mallrats a series, that’s where my head goes most often, it’s like, ‘oh my god, Hughes is what fed you.’"
In terms of preparation, Smith has returned to that source, watching and rewatching Hughes' body of work and using his foundation as the building blocks for his won work. Obviously, we can expect it all to be a lot dirtier, as the director openly acknowledges.
He's also revealed that his daughter Harley Quinn Smith will play Brodie Bruce’s daughter, Banner Bruce. It seems fitting that a second generation actress with a superhero inspired name should play that sort of character.
Yoga Hosers will be released in the UK later this year, presumably some time after the September US release.