Kevin Smith has been talking about a potential sequel to Mallrats for years, and even just last year, the director announced that the follow-up would be called Mallbrats. It now looks like he'll be taking the idea to television instead.
1995's Mallrats was Smith’s much-maligned (though, according to its loyal fans, vastly under-appreciated) Clerks follow-up that attempted to transplant the blend of slacker vibe, pop cultural commentary and sheer madness to a mall with a bigger budget, a bolstered cast (including one Ben Affleck) and colour.
In an interview with a Philadelphia radio station (reported by Deadline), Smith revealed that his recent experience directing an episode of The Flash turned him on to the idea that TV could be the best place for any new shopping centre stories. “Universal and I are just about to close our deal to do Mallrats the series,” he said. “Then we take it out into the world to find a home for it. So instead of doing a Mallrats movie, I’m going to do 10 episodes of a Mallrats series."
It's possible that the new direction also comes because financiers had shown little interest in making a Mallrats follow-up, but Smith has also been busy with other projects, including the recently-announced plan to turn The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension into a series. It sounds like that one, in the works for a little while now, has inched closer to reality, as Smith revealed he's sold the idea to a company, though couldn't announced which one yet.
His latest film, Yoga Hosers, has so far been drawing the sort of reviews that can only be described as getting screwed in a very uncomfortable place. And we don't mean the back of a Volkswagon.