Say, would you like a chocolate covered pretzel? You might be able to get that and more, as Mallrats star Jason Lee has teased that there will be celebratory events marking the 30th anniversary of the divisive 1995 comedy. Snootchie Bootchies!
Jason Lee – who played Hartford Whalers supporter and slacker extraordinaire Brodie Bruce in Mallrats – recently took to social media to share both a still from the movie and hint that there might be some goodies in store for fans. As he wrote, “2025, a year of some cool anniversaries and happenings. 30 years ago, @thatkevinsmith’s MALLRATS premiered. My first film and an incredibly memorable, life-changing experience. Look forward to some MALLRATS anniversary events later this year. More to come …Thank you, Kevin!”
While Lee avoided any specifics on the Mallrats 30th anniversary celebration, knowing how Kevin Smith goes all-out for his flicks (especially when there’s an anniversary), no doubt we can expect some screenings and Q&A sessions at the very least. Smith has already hosted special showings of Mallrats at his Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey, but we can see him wanting it to reach its widest audience yet.
Mallrats was a notorious flop for Kevin Smith in 1995, getting eaten up at the cinema like the kid on the escalator, failing to make even half of what its debut, Clerks, did. More specifically, it had a haul of just $2.1 million, or about a third of its budget, never getting past #13 on the weekend charts. For more reference, its opening weekend found it in that position – barely ahead of Apollo 13, then in its 17th week!
There has been talk of a Mallrats sequel for over a decade now. And while the death of Shannen Doherty (Rene Mosier) last year could have stalled it even further, there has been talk of friend Sarah Michelle Gellar stepping in and the movie serving as a tribute to her legacy.
Thirty years on, what is your assessment of Kevin Smith’s Mallrats? Does it still get a bad rap or has it grown into a reputation of its own?
