Kevin Smith Still Wants Twilight of the Mallrats — But Universal Won’t Let the Rights Go

There was a time when Mallrats (now celebrating its 30th anniversary) was considered the dark horse of Kevin Smith’s career. It was a huge financial flop, only grossing $2.1 million and earning awful reviews. Smith’s follow-up, Chasing Amy, was widely seen as a major comeback — but something unexpected happened in the years that followed. Mallrats became a massive cult hit on home video. First there was the VHS release, which became infamous as the tape that was never in stock at the Blockbuster I worked at back in the era, followed by a special-features-heavy DVD, then Blu-ray, and so on. So while Mallrats may have bombed in theaters, it ultimately became a huge success after the fact.

Why Twilight of the Mallrats Still Hasn’t Happened

As a result of that renewed popularity, Smith has long held out hope for a sequel titled Twilight of the Mallrats. It’s been in development for years, and in a recent interview with THR celebrating the re-release of his long-absent Dogma, Smith revealed that he wrote a full script. His hope was that if Universal didn’t want to make (or co-finance) the movie, they might simply allow the rights to revert so he could produce it independently. That never happened.

“Word then came back that Universal has never let a title go in the history of the studio. They consider themselves a catalog house. That’s how they made their fortune. That’s how the company was built. So there’s never been a precedent where they were like, ‘Just take the movie and do what you want with it. Or take the movie and you can license it from us.’ They’re just not in that business.”

Smith says that if the rights had been freed up, he’s confident the sequel could have been financed easily. “It’s a shame because finding the financing would’ve been so easy. That left the two paths of either co-producing or making it themselves, and they haven’t historically been interested in either. So I don’t know anybody that’s going to move that piece, man. The only person who moves that piece is somebody in Universal, and I keep hoping that I live long enough until somebody who grew up as a Mallrats fan is in a position of power.”

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Rene? Smith Reacts

During the interview, Smith was told that fans hoped Sarah Michelle Gellar might play Rene — the role originally played by the late Shannen Doherty — as a tribute. When informed that Gellar responded positively on social media, he became emotional.

“She’s a good egg, man. I got to work with her on the Masters of the Universe: Revelation cartoon, and we were at a party at [EP] Ted Biaselli’s house when the show launched. It’s one of the only good memories I have from that show launching because the internet then came after me.”

For those who don’t remember, Smith faced intense backlash from fans upset that the series temporarily killed off Prince Adam and shifted focus to mostly female characters.

Would You Watch a Mallrats Sequel?

Would you go see a Mallrats sequel? Let us know in the comments.

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