ⓘ Details

Movie TitleClerks II

Release DateJuly 21, 2006 in the United States

TaglineWith no power comes no responsibility.

Runtime97 minutes / 1 hour 37 minutes

DirectorKevin Smith

Screenplay Written ByKevin Smith

Based OnCharacters and world created by Kevin Smith in Clerks and the View Askewniverse

Is It a Remake?No. It is a sequel to Clerks and the sixth feature film in the View Askewniverse.

BudgetApproximately $5 million

Box OfficeApprox. $24.1 million domestic / approx. $27 million worldwide

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👥 Main Cast

Brian O’HalloranDante Hicks

Jeff AndersonRandal Graves

Rosario DawsonBecky Scott

Trevor FehrmanElias Grover

Jennifer Schwalbach SmithEmma Bunting

Jason MewesJay

Kevin SmithSilent Bob

Jason LeeLance Dowds

Wanda SykesAngry Customer

Ben AffleckGawking Guy

Kevin WeismanHobbit Lover

Jake RichardsonTeen #1

Ethan SupleeTeen #2

Harley Quinn SmithKid in Window

Scott MosierConcerned Father

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🏆 Awards

⭐ Cannes Film Festival — Screened out of competition in 2006

⭐ Empire Awards Nominee — Best Comedy

⭐ Online Film & Television Association Nominee — Best Music, Adapted Song for “ABC”

⭐ Golden Trailer Awards Nominee — comedy trailer recognition

⭐ No Academy Award nominations were verified for the film.

⭐ No Golden Globe nominations were verified for the film.

⭐ The film received generally favorable reviews on Metacritic and became one of Kevin Smith’s more warmly received post-Clerks View Askew entries.

⭐ Its real legacy is fan affection: rude, sentimental, crude, and oddly sweet in the exact way a Kevin Smith sequel probably has to be.

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📖 Short Plot Summary

Years after the original Clerks, Dante and Randal are still stuck in low-wage customer service, now working at Mooby’s after the Quick Stop burns down. Dante is preparing to leave New Jersey for Florida with his fiancée Emma, but his friendship with Randal, his feelings for manager Becky, and one catastrophically inappropriate going-away party make his future a lot less simple. Clerks II keeps the dirty jokes, pop-culture arguments, and View Askew weirdness, but adds a surprising amount of heart about friendship, growing up, and realizing that your comfort zone may smell like fast food but it might still be home.

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❝ Key Quotes

“There’s only one trilogy, you morons.” — Randal Graves

“I’m not even supposed to be here today!” — Dante Hicks

“You never go ass to mouth.” — Dante Hicks

“You are the architect of your own unhappiness.” — Becky Scott

“I miss my donkey.” — Elias Grover

“I’m gonna miss this place.” — Dante Hicks

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💡 Trivia

Director

Clerks II was written, directed, and edited by Kevin Smith.
The film is the sequel to Smith’s 1994 indie breakthrough Clerks.
It is the sixth feature film set in the View Askewniverse.
Smith brings Dante, Randal, Jay, and Silent Bob back with a bigger budget, color photography, and the same deeply unsafe workplace conversation topics.
The movie balances raunchy comedy with a more sentimental look at aging, friendship, fear of change, and what happens when your life plan is mostly “complain near a cash register.”

Cast / Casting

Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson return as Dante and Randal.
Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith return as Jay and Silent Bob.
Rosario Dawson joined the cast as Becky Scott, giving the film one of its strongest emotional centers.
Trevor Fehrman plays Elias, the innocent young Mooby’s employee whose worldview is not built to survive Randal Graves.
Jennifer Schwalbach Smith plays Emma, Dante’s fiancée.
The film includes cameos from View Askew regulars and friends of Smith, including Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Ethan Suplee, Scott Mosier, and Wanda Sykes.

Soundtrack / Score

James L. Venable composed the film’s score.
The soundtrack mixes score cues with pop, rock, and soul songs that fit Smith’s hangout-comedy style.
The Jackson 5’s “ABC” is used in the film’s dance sequence, one of the movie’s most unexpectedly sweet moments.
The soundtrack also includes artists such as Talking Heads, King Diamond, Soul Asylum, and Alanis Morissette.
The music supports the film’s split personality: filthy comedy on one side, weirdly sincere friendship movie on the other.

Location

The story is set largely in New Jersey, continuing the View Askewniverse’s home-base feel.
Quick Stop Groceries in Leonardo, New Jersey appears in connection with the original Clerks location.
Mooby’s, the fictional fast-food restaurant where most of the film takes place, is a major View Askew brand gag carried over from earlier Smith projects.
Filming also took place in California, including constructed restaurant interiors used for Mooby’s.
The contrast between the Quick Stop and Mooby’s gives the movie its central joke: Dante and Randal technically changed jobs, but spiritually they never left the counter.

Behind-The-Scenes

The film was produced by Scott Mosier.
Production companies included The Weinstein Company and View Askew Productions.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer handled the domestic theatrical release.
The reported production budget was approximately $5 million.
The film opened on July 21, 2006 and grossed about $24.1 million domestically and about $27 million worldwide.
The movie screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, where it reportedly received an enthusiastic response.

Nostalgia

Clerks II arrived 12 years after the original Clerks.
For fans of the first movie, the sequel works as a reunion with Dante, Randal, Jay, and Silent Bob after a decade of bad choices and worse conversations.
The film captures a very mid-2000s Kevin Smith energy: View Askew callbacks, internet-era geek arguments, crude escalation, and unexpected sincerity.
The Star Wars vs. The Lord of the Rings argument became one of the film’s most quoted geek-culture scenes.
It is one of those sequels that should not be as heartfelt as it is, especially considering how much of it is built around fast food, insults, and a donkey show.

Easter Eggs

Mooby’s had appeared in earlier Kevin Smith projects before becoming the main workplace in Clerks II.
Jay and Silent Bob’s sobriety subplot references Jason Mewes’ real-life struggles and recovery.
The movie includes View Askew-style cameos and callbacks for longtime fans of Smith’s universe.
The Quick Stop connection ties the sequel directly back to the original Clerks.
Dante’s “I’m not even supposed to be here today” line returns as one of the franchise’s signature complaints.
The film sets up the emotional groundwork that would later continue in Clerks III.

Misc.

Clerks II is rated R.
The movie runs 97 minutes.
The film was released in the United States on July 21, 2006.
Metacritic lists the film with generally favorable reviews.
It was followed by Clerks III in 2022.
Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists Clerks II as Episode 18, with Don rating it 4.50, Ken rating it 3.50, Jon rating it 4.00, and an overall rating of 4.00.

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