Kevin Smith will relive the cinematic franchise that launched his career with the upcoming Clerks III, but fans can now rest assured it won’t be the director’s last film.
In an interview with Uproxx, Smith explained that “there’s definitely more,” when it comes to his plans for pursuing the craft, post Clerks III, as long as his ticker keeps chugging along, noting that he feels he’s been living on borrowed time ever since a life-altering heart attack happened to him a few years ago.
“I’m going to keep going until the heart gives out, but based on the heart attack, I know that I got limited time. Now, I changed my life. I went vegan. I hike, and I try to be healthy, but I’m still at the mercy of my genetics, which are pretty f-cking bad. My old man died of a heart attack at age 67. My mother just got her third stent put into her heart like two weeks ago, so the writing’s on the wall. At this point, post-heart attack, I honestly feel like I’m living on borrowed time, so I will keep making stuff until I go tits up, or toes up, however, the expression goes.”
Smith went on to say that he’s decided to focus on more personal projects ever since the health scare, which opened his eyes to the fact that time was limited.
“There was a minute where I did Cop Out, and I was directing CW shows. I was just spreading it around, but after the heart attack, I’m like you don’t have the time or the lifespan to spread it around. I know there’s a lot of stuff you want to say in this life. Make sure you’re saying it if you do drop dead.”
The Lionsgate-distributed Clerks III will see the return of stars Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman and Jason Mewes, and represents the ninth film set in Smith’s View Askewniverse.