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Three hosts of the 3 Guys and a Flick movie review podcast with movie-themed background.
🎙 Podcast Episode 81

Clerks III

Join the Guys as they review Kevin Smith’s 2022 View Askewniverse sequel starring Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman, Austin Zajur, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mewes, and Kevin Smith, where Randal survives a heart attack and decides to make a movie about the Quick Stop, turning middle age, friendship, regret, and convenience-store nonsense into one last shift.

Release Date September 13, 2022
Runtime 100 minutes
Director Kevin Smith
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3 Guys and a Flick — Episode 81

Clerks III (2022)

ⓘ Details

Movie TitleClerks III
Release DateSeptember 13, 2022 through Fathom Events / September 16, 2022 listed as earliest domestic release by Box Office Mojo
TaglineThey’re too old for this shift.
Runtime100 minutes / 1 hour 40 minutes
DirectorKevin Smith
Screenplay Written ByKevin Smith
Based OnOriginal characters created by Kevin Smith for Clerks and the View Askewniverse
Is It a Remake?No. It is a sequel to Clerks and Clerks II, and the ninth film in Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse.
BudgetApproximately $7 million
Box OfficeApprox. $4.66 million domestic / Approx. $4.72 million worldwide
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👥 Main Cast

Brian O’HalloranDante Hicks
Jeff AndersonRandal Graves
Trevor FehrmanElias Grover
Austin ZajurBlockchain Coltrane
Jason MewesJay
Kevin SmithSilent Bob
Rosario DawsonBecky Scott
Marilyn GhigliottiVeronica Loughran
Ben AffleckBoston John
Sarah Michelle GellarAuditioner
Fred ArmisenAuditioner
Justin LongNurse
Amy SedarisDoctor Ladenheim
Marc BernardinLando
Harley Quinn SmithMilly
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🏆 Awards

⭐ No Academy Award nominations were verified for the film.
⭐ No Golden Globe nominations were verified for the film.
⭐ No BAFTA nominations were verified for the film.
⭐ IMDb currently lists no major awards for Clerks III.
⭐ The movie’s recognition is more fan-driven than awards-driven, centered on View Askewniverse nostalgia and Kevin Smith’s personal filmmaking story.
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📖 Short Plot Summary

After suffering a massive heart attack, Randal Graves decides he has wasted too much time behind the counter at the Quick Stop. Inspired to make something meaningful before it is too late, he enlists Dante, Elias, Jay, Silent Bob, and the rest of the old crew to help him shoot a movie about their lives as clerks. What starts as a meta-comedy about making the original Clerks becomes a story about aging, grief, friendship, and whether the people who know us best can survive becoming our characters.
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❝ Key Quotes

“I’m not even supposed to be here today!” — Dante Hicks
“Jay and Silent Bob are like C-3PO and R2-D2.” — Randal Graves
“They’ve been here since the first movie.” — Randal Graves
“You know, there are million fines in the world, dude!” — Jay
“I need to make a movie.” — Randal Graves
“We’re too old for this shift.” — Tagline
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💡 Trivia

Director

  • Clerks III was written, directed, and edited by Kevin Smith.
  • The film is deeply autobiographical, inspired in part by Smith’s own near-fatal heart attack in 2018.
  • Smith uses the sequel as a meta-reflection on making Clerks, aging with his characters, and returning to the Quick Stop decades later.
  • The movie is the ninth feature film in Smith’s View Askewniverse.

Cast / Casting

  • Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson return as Dante Hicks and Randal Graves, the central duo from the original Clerks.
  • Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith return as Jay and Silent Bob.
  • Trevor Fehrman returns as Elias Grover from Clerks II.
  • Rosario Dawson returns as Becky Scott, whose role gives Dante’s story much of its emotional weight.
  • The film features cameos from familiar Kevin Smith collaborators and celebrity fans, including Ben Affleck, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Fred Armisen, Justin Long, and others.

Soundtrack / Score

  • James L. Venable composed the film’s music.
  • The soundtrack leans into Smith’s long-running mix of pop, punk, alternative, and needle-drop nostalgia.
  • The movie uses music to support both its slacker-comedy roots and its more sentimental look back at the franchise.
  • The film’s Quick Stop setting and low-budget movie-within-the-movie structure intentionally echo the feeling of the 1994 original.

Location

  • The story returns to the Quick Stop Convenience Store in Leonardo, New Jersey.
  • Filming took place in New Jersey, including the real Quick Stop location associated with the original Clerks.
  • The Quick Stop and RST Video storefronts are central to the movie’s nostalgia and meta-filmmaking premise.
  • The film’s setting deliberately keeps the story small, personal, and tied to the place where Kevin Smith’s career began.

Behind-The-Scenes

  • The film was produced by Liz Destro and Jordan Monsanto.
  • Lionsgate handled distribution, with Fathom Events giving the film a special theatrical event release.
  • The production budget is listed at approximately $7 million.
  • Box Office Mojo lists the domestic gross at approximately $4.66 million and worldwide gross at approximately $4.72 million.
  • Because the story is about Randal making a movie based on his life, many scenes intentionally recreate moments, camera setups, and jokes from the original Clerks.

Nostalgia

  • Clerks III is built almost entirely around nostalgia for the 1994 original and the View Askewniverse.
  • The film revisits the Quick Stop, RST Video, rooftop hockey energy, customer arguments, pop-culture debates, and black-and-white indie-film roots of Clerks.
  • For longtime fans, the movie plays like a reunion, a behind-the-scenes origin story, and a farewell all at once.
  • The sequel also reflects on how the characters and audience have aged since the first film.

Easter Eggs

  • Randal’s movie-within-the-movie directly mirrors Kevin Smith’s real-life creation of Clerks.
  • The film recreates several classic moments from the 1994 original, including customer bits and Quick Stop staging.
  • Jay and Silent Bob being compared to C-3PO and R2-D2 underlines their role as recurring franchise fixtures.
  • The title and premise make the trilogy feel like a full-circle return to the place where the View Askewniverse started.
  • The movie’s emotional beats are heavily shaped by Kevin Smith’s real health scare and his relationship with the characters he created.

Misc.

  • Clerks III is rated R for pervasive language, sexual material, and brief drug use.
  • The film’s runtime is listed at 100 minutes.
  • IMDb lists the estimated budget at $7 million and worldwide gross at approximately $4.72 million.
  • Box Office Mojo lists Fathom Events as the domestic distributor.
  • Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists Clerks III as Episode 81, with Don rating it 4.50, Ken rating it 3.25, Jon rating it 4.50, and an overall rating of 4.08.
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🔗 Sources Cited

3 Guys and a Flick — Ratings IMDb — Clerks III IMDb — Full Cast & Crew IMDb — Awards IMDb — Quotes Box Office Mojo — Clerks III Box Office Mojo — Release Details The Numbers — Clerks III Rotten Tomatoes — Clerks III Metacritic — Clerks III Lionsgate — Clerks III Fathom Events — Clerks III
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