The last movie left Dante and Randal in a good place as they finally took control of their own destiny and bought the Quick Stop to run for themselves. In Clerks III, Randal has a heart attack – much like Smith himself did a few years ago – which forces him to re-evaluate his life. With Dante’s help, he decides to make a movie about their lives at the Quick Stop. This premise will seemingly break the franchise tradition. Both Clerks and Clerks II took place over the course of a single day, but Clerks III’s filmmaking storyline seems to span a few weeks.

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This plot reflects the way a young Kevin Smith made the original Clerks film when he was an employee at the actual Quick Stop convenience store in New Jersey. In real life, it took Smith a month of long nights to shoot Clerks in the store where he was working all day, so it’s unlikely that Clerks III will take place across one day like its predecessors. The day-in-the-life structure is part of the charm of the first two Clerks movies, as they captured the beautiful mundanity of everyday life, but the threequel can still work if it focuses on what made the first two films so endearing: Dante and Randal’s friendship.

This isn’t saying a lot, because there are very few comedy sequels that work out, but Clerks II is one of the most satisfying comedy sequels ever made. It has just as many memorable gags as the first movie and its emotional throughline is just as compelling (if not more so). On top of Dante becoming a father and finding true love, Clerks II provided a perfect, albeit temporary conclusion to the Clerks saga with Dante and Randal buying the Quick Stop and going into business for themselves. So, Clerks III has a lot to live up to.

Randal shooting a movie at the store is an interesting premise for a Clerks threequel, so that’s a great start. It doesn’t just switch out the Quick Stop from the first film and the Mooby’s fast food restaurant from the second one for another mundane, low-paying workplace. Instead, Smith is bringing the story full circle. The only concern is that Clerks III could get too self-aware, because the third movie in the series is about the making of the first movie.

Almost every joke in the trailer is a nod to the original. There’s a fun R2-D2/C-3PO bit referencing criticisms that Jay and Silent Bob quickly wore out their welcome. Dante and Randal consider including their Empire Strikes Back vs. Return of the Jedi riff from the first film, but fear a lawsuit from Disney if they put it in a movie today. Plus, Randal wants to kill off Dante in a tongue-in-cheek callback to Clerks’ dark original ending. It’s fine to include a few meta gags like this – there are plenty of laughs in the trailer – but it can’t be the whole movie. Self-awareness needs to be the gravy, not the meat. The meat needs to be the culmination of the characters’ journeys.

Clerks III could follow a day-in-the-life structure after all. The trailer might be a misdirection. Randal’s heart attack could be an opening prologue. Production of his movie could be a montage cut together like the trailer itself. The bulk of the movie could take place on the day of the premiere at the Quick Stop. And, in true Clerks fashion, everything will go horribly wrong on this day. But that’s just speculation.

Ultimately, Clerks III doesn’t need to take place across one day as long as it stays focused on the friendship at the heart of the franchise. Dante and Randal are one of the most iconic double acts in film history. They haven’t always gotten along – in fact, they frequently don’t – but they’ve always been there for each other. Whenever Randal throws his professional duties out the window, Dante reluctantly covers for him. Whenever Dante complains about the way the world is treating him, Randal brings him back down to Earth and reminds him that he’s in charge of his own fate. His approach isn’t always entirely sensitive (often, the opposite is true), but Randal has always had Dante’s best interests at heart.

After that heart attacks him, it’s time for Dante to return the favor, inspiring Randal to stop watching the same movies over and over again so he can write and direct one of his own. As long as Clerks III does justice to that friendship, its narrative can take place across more than one day. Clerks III is set to premiere on September 4 in Red Bank, New Jersey, ahead of its wide release on September 13.

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