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In the four decades he has released films, director Kevin Smith has done everything from romantic comedies to epic fantasy comedies to animated comedies and even horror comedies. While Smith certainly has a niche audience that has stuck with him since the 1990s, the director has never shied away from making movies he would have loved to have watched and movies he feels personally connected with. Smith has continued producing and fostering other projects while making his own films, and his latest project may be one of his best.

The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age tale set in the 1980s when hanging out with your friends at the local multiplex was the height of entertainment. Inspired by the director’s own youth in suburban New Jersey, The 4:30 Movie is distinct from Smith’s other movies in many ways. While it does not feature Jay or Silent Bob, the movie...

Kevin Smith had an idea for intriguing stunt-casting in his new film, The 4:30 Movie — he’d hire his daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, to play the Kevin-Smith-as-a-teenager character Brian David. Smith’s wife Jennifer signed off on the idea: “Harley is just a beardless, dickless version of you.” But despite the chance to play the film’s lead, Smith’s offspring turned him down flat.

“She was just like, ‘You don’t think I’ve got enough nepo baby shit to deal with online? You now want me to play you? Fuck that,’” Smith told Hollywood Reporter.

But nepo dads still gotta nepo dad. With Harley out of the picture, Smith turned to her long-term boyfriend, Austin Zajur, that veteran actor from Clerks III and Smith’s TBS reality show, Celebrity Show-Off. “Honestly, he was more Kevin Smith than Kevin Smith,” said Kevin Smith. “He was the perfect, perfect choice.

Kevin Smith just directed The 4:30 Movie, which all but worships the movie-going experience – something that those caught up in today's world of streaming might not be too familiar with.

The film takes place in 1986 and follows Austin Zajur's Brian David, who invites his crush, Melody Barnegat (Siena Agudong), to see a movie with him at 4:30.

The story unfolds almost entirely in the movie theater as Brian and his friends hang out and watch other films while waiting for the fateful date.

Read full article on The Direct.

The 4:30 Movie writer-director Kevin Smith is well aware that filmmakers are in a self-reflective phase, especially after the wake-up call that was the recent global pandemic. In the past few years alone, Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) and James Gray (Armageddon Time) have made period dramas based on their childhoods, but most notably, Steven Spielberg put out The Fabelmans in 2022, detailing how his parents’ divorce intersected with his budding filmmaking prowess. Smith’s 16th feature about his four first loves — his neighborhood movie theater, his adolescent crush and his two best friends — is already being compared to Spielberg’s most recent Oscar-nominated film.

“A lot of nice people online have been saying that [The 4:30 Movie] is kind of like The Fabelmans, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s sweet.’ And then The New York Times was like, ‘Yeah, it’s kind of like The Fabelmans if the kid grows up to make terrible movies,...

Filmmaker Kevin Smith presents his most personal film to date with The 4:30 Movie, a coming-of-age story - set in the summer of 1986 - that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local cineplex.

When one of the guys invites the girl of his dreams to see an R-rated film, all hilarity breaks loose, as a self-important theater manager (Ken Jeong) and teen rivalries interfere with his best-laid plans. Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Jason Biggs, and more contribute outrageous characters to this poignant comic valentine to moviegoing and the youth of the '80s.

Shot in Smith's Smodcastle Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, the movie has the same vibe as Clerks and is full of fun nostalgic Easter Eggs and pop culture references. It's also a relatable tale which features star-making performances from its four young leads: Austin Zajur, Nicholas Cirillo, Reed Northrup,...

The 4:30 Movie is a 2024 American semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It stars Austin Zajur, Nicholas Cirillo, Reed Northrup, Siena Agudong, and Ken Jeong. The story is loosely based on Smith’s experiences sneaking into movie theatres as a teenager and his earliest romantic endeavours.

Writer-director Kevin Smith presents his most personal film to date with this coming-of-age story – set in the summer of 1986 – that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local Cineplex. When one of the guys invites the girl of his dreams to see an R-rated film, all hilarity breaks loose, as a self-important theater manager (Ken Jeong) and teen rivalries interfere with his best-laid plans. Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Jason Biggs, and more contribute outrageous characters to this poignant comic valentine to movie-going and the youth of the ’80s.

The 4:30 Movie was released, in the US,...

The 4:30 Movie, the sixteenth feature film from director Kevin Smith, received a theatrical release on September 13th, and now it has been revealed that the movie is coming to 4K and Blu-ray on November 5th! Copies of the physical media versions of the movie are available for pre-order on Amazon – including an Amazon-exclusive steelbook edition where the case is designed to look like a large VHS tape and the discs look like VHS tape spools! A fitting design for a movie that’s set in 1986. Images of the steelbook design can be seen right here:

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The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age comedy that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams to see the latest comedy, each...

Sinners: "From Ryan Coogler—director of “Black Panther” and “Creed”—and starring Michael B. Jordan comes a new vision of fear: “Sinners.”

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

“You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.”

Written and directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Coogler, “Sinners” stars Jordan (the “Black Panther” and “Creed” franchises) in a dual role, joined by Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell (“Ferrari”), Wunmi Mosaku (“Passenger”), Jayme Lawson (“The Woman King”), Omar Benson Miller (“True Lies”) and Delroy Lindo (“Da 5 Bloods”).

The film is produced by Coogler and frequent collaborators Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler. The executive producers are Ludwig Göransson, Will Greenfield and Rebecca Cho.

Coogler’s behind-the-camera artisans include his “Black Panther...

In another world, The 4:30 Movie might have been named ‘Movierats’. Kevin Smith has long told tales of New Jersey kids simply hanging out, be it at the local shop (Clerks), the local fast-food restaurant (Clerks II), or the local mall (Mallrats). Here, he takes that template and applies it to the local multiplex — what better love-letter to cinema than a film set almost entirely at the cinema? And more specifically, the cinema of Smith’s own youth, which he now owns and operates as Smodcastle Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands, NJ? Disappointingly, for all the promise in the premise, it rarely projects in quite the way you’d hope.

In typical Smith style, this is very much a story from the heart, remixing personal experience in cinematic form — lead character Brian David (a charming and engaging Austin Zajur) is a clear Kevin Smith stand-in, a deeply nerdy kid with a passion for cinema,...

As Hollywood attempts to keep up with the ever-changing face of streaming, Kevin Smith has gotten into the movie theater business.

The director’s latest film is The 4:30 Movie, which serves as a love letter to small-town cinemas. It came at a time when he was feeling “existential” about being “one more goofy-ass tile to this never-ending wall” of film and television content on streaming platforms.

“I know it’s hard out there. It’s always been hard,” he said. “That’s the one thing I could say. But it’s worth the struggle. It’s worth the fight. Like, it’s worth making that tile, man, because that tile winds up being all the difference in some person’s life you’ll never meet.

“I meet people who tell you wonderful things about movies you’ve made years ago that other people lambast, and they’re like: ‘That’s my favorite movie.

There are some minor Spoilers ahead if you don’t want anything about writer/director Kevin Smith’s new film The 4:30 Movie given away before you see it… but for those of you who would like to weigh whether not these are the sort of spoilers you feel you should avoid, I will say that this only concerns one exchange of dialogue and some of the special thanks seen in the end credits. Now, to get to the point: The 4:30 Movie is in theatres as of today, and since its release date also happens to be a Friday the 13th, I thought it was worth pointing out and celebrating the fact that Jason Voorhees, the iconic star of the Friday the 13th franchise, gets a shout-out in the movie!

Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age comedy that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend...

Thirty years ago, Kevin Smith burst into the world of independent filmmaking in a blaze of glorious serendipity that nobody could replicate if they tried. Self-financed for less than $30,000 and shot entirely in the convenience store where he worked, the original “Clerks” was an electrifying mix of slacker wit and utter absurdism at a time when putting pop culture-obsessed male mediocrity on the big screen felt like a genuinely novel concept. Even after double digit viewings, the film still feels like a pitch-perfect punk rock farce that can make even the most discerning cinephile laugh out loud more than it has any right to.

None of Smith’s subsequent work caught that kind of lightning in a bottle, but quite a few of his early films were close enough to the original high to be watchable. “Mallrats” is a passable ’90s comedy, “Chasing Amy” is a clever character study anchored...

Once an indie underdog, Kevin Smith has, in middle age, devoted himself to making what critics and fans alike might characterize as glorified, self-referential home movies, cast with friends and family members and filled with callbacks, in-jokes, and the same familiar anxieties about friendship, romance, and growing up. This is not an original observation.

As someone who grew up loving movies in the 1980s, I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever shut up about movies from the 1980s. Yeah, a lot of those movies were good. A lot of them also stank out loud. You could make both those statements about any decade for the last 120 years. When, oh when will filmmakers finally move on and, just for a change of pace, make some cinematic love letters to the summer “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and “From Justin to Kelly” came out?

Not today, that’s for sure. “The 4:30 Movie” is a nostalgic throwback to the sleepy summer of 1986, when teenagers watched wrestling religiously, made ironic predictions about the Mets never winning the World Series, and spent all day at the movies jumping from theater to theater. The mission was simple: Buy one ticket to a film rated G, PG...

The indie comedy boom of the 1990s features some voices that remain iconic to this day. For pop culture fanatics like myself, Kevin Smith occupied a space between outsider and emerging superstar. However, in the following years, Smith’s changed his approach and tone to filmmaking, providing a more self-reflexive tone over the past three features. The 4:30 Movie certainly falls in this category, taking us back to his high school days when his entire world was dominated by movies. Even though he’s covered similar ground in the past, The 4:30 Movie exists outside, mainly outside the View Askewiverse. It makes for a standalone story and still contains his trademark comedic touch.

The 4:30 Movie – The Plot Related“If you were a comic book fan, it was pretty hot”: Not Christopher Reeve’s Superman, Kevin Smith Has Credited One Legacy DC Movie for Reviving Superhero Movies

In 1986, three...

Plot: Writer-director Kevin Smith presents his most personal film to date with this coming-of-age story — set in the summer of 1986 — that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local cineplex. When one of the guys invites the girl of his dreams to see an R-rated film, all hilarity breaks loose, as a self-important theater manager and teen rivalries interfere with his best-laid plans.

Review: I have been a Kevin Smith fan since I saw Clerks in the mid-90s. Smith had a solid run over the early course of his career, but the 2010s were less kind from a critical standpoint. While I have stood by his projects even when the quality was less than I knew he was capable of, my gut told me that Kevin Smith had another great project in him. I am happy to say that The 4:30 Movie is...

Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie follows Brian David, a teenager enjoying his final days of freedom before the start of the new school year. Living with his parents in suburban New Jersey, Brian spends his days hanging out at the local movie theater with his best buds, Belly and Burny. Their favorite pastime is “movie-hopping” between shows to sneak into multiple films in a single afternoon.

On this particular Saturday, Brian works up the courage to ask his longtime crush Melody on a date. To his delight, she says yes and agrees to join him for the 4:30 screening. Directed by Kevin Smith, well known for semi-autobiographical comedies that mine his experiences growing up in New Jersey, The 4:30 Movie has a very similar feel. Smith brings the same lighthearted sense of humor and flair for capturing the small moments of teenage life.

While the plot is simple,...

Kevin Smith will always hold a special place in my heart as one of the filmmakers who defined my formative years in cinema. "Clerks," "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma," and even the silly "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" were packed full of hilarious yet immature laughs and pop culture references that tickled my funny bone and my geek gland. But ever since he tried to make his own Judd Apatow movie with "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," which made him feel like he ruined Seth Rogen's career at the time, he's struggled to re-capture the comedic voice that once defined him.

"Jay & Silent Bob Reboot" was a clumsy return to Kevin Smith's stoner slacker duo, and while "Clerks III" had a meaningful emotional core inspired by the filmmaker's real life brush with death and a meta narrative about the beginning of his film career, the movie ultimately...

The Clerks director continues his nostalgic mood in endearing study of a geeky adolescent with high romantic ambitions

Following on from his likable threequel Clerks III, Kevin Smith remains in a nostalgic mood with yet another semi-autobiographical comedy whose main character is basically an avatar of Smith himself, just a little thinner. Protagonist Brian David is a junior in high school. This being 1986, there’s not much for a 16-year-old to do in suburban New Jersey but go to the local multiplex with his friends, geeky Belly (Reed Northrup) and cocky Burny (Nicholas Cirillo) – so that’s what the guys get up to, paying to see something PG and then sneaking into the R-rated film when the ushers aren’t looking.

However, on this particular day, Brian has mustered the courage to ask his crush, Melody (Siena Agudong), to go see a new release on a date with him at...

Jam-packed with his familiar brand of vulgar yet verbose stoner humor and free-flowing riffs on movies—especially his own—the vibes are certainly off the charts in Kevin Smith’s The 4:30 Movie. Set in the summer of 1986, the film chronicles an initially magical day in the life of a Smith stand-in, Brian David (Austin Zajur), after he invites a girl from school, Melody Barnegat (Siena Agudong), to their local movie theater. But a raucous comedy of errors ensues thanks to Brian’s slacker friends, Burny (Nicholas Cirillo) and Belly (Reed Northrup), and a revolving door of local weirdos played by Smith’s Irl famous friends, turning the theater into a lawless asylum.

The 4:30 Movie doesn’t so much find Smith in his wheelhouse as it does in some kind of Synecdoche, New York-style Tower of slacker-movie Babylon. That, though, doesn’t translate to comedy gold, let alone a cohesive film.

Clerks and Mallrats director Kevin Smith makes his most personal film yet with The 4:30 Movie. Here’s the trailer.

Update: Altitude films have now confirmed that The 4:30 Movie, the latest from director Kevin Smith, is heading to UK cinemas for a limited release on 13th September. The cinema release will be followed by a digital release on Altitude.film and other digital retailers from 21st October.

Our original story follows…

30th July, 2024: Just as Steven Spielberg mined his film obsessed childhood for The Fabelmens, so Clerks and Mallrats director Kevin Smith will take a nostalgic look back at his teenage years in The 4:30 Movie.

The synopsis reads as follows:

Writer-director Kevin Smith presents his most personal film to date with this coming-of-age story — set in the summer of 1986 — that follows three sixteen-year-old friends, who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local cineplex. When one of...

The 4:30 Movie is the sixteenth feature film from director Kevin Smith, and a while back the movie not only received an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board, but it also secured a distribution deal with Saban Films that will see it reaching theatres on September 13th. In the trailer that has made its way online (and is embedded above), there’s a moment where we see a construction worker played by Jason Biggs having an intense experience in a port-a-potty… and Smith has revealed what’s going on in that scene. As it turns out, this is a movie-within-the-movie moment, much like the Sister Sugar Walls faux trailer that opens the trailer and the imagery we’ve seen from Astro Blaster and the Beaver-Men, which is the movie the characters are going to see at 4:30. The scene with Jason Biggs in a port-a-potty is from...

Kevin Smith can’t quit New Jersey, but today, there is a split in his fandom between those who gave up on the director around Jersey Girl and those New Jerseyans riding their hometown hero until the wheels fall off. But with The 4:30 Movie, maybe he can get some...

Kevin Smith has often blurred the lines between documentary and fiction. With semi-autobiographical film “The 4:30 Movie”, the writer/director is tapping into his New Jersey teen years.

Smith wrote and directed the feature that is billed as his “most personal film to date.” The coming-of-age story stars “Clerks 3” actor Austin Zajur as Brian David, a teen cinephile (and Smith surrogate) who regularly sneaks into movie theaters.

The official synopsis for “The 4:30 Movie” reads: “Three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local cineplex. When one of the guys invites the girl of his dreams to see an R-rated film, all hilarity breaks loose, as a self-important theater manager (Ken Jeong) and teen rivalries interfere with his best-laid plans.”

The film takes place in the summer of 1986, and includes cameos from former Smith collaborators Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Jason Biggs, Jason Mewes, Jason Lee (all the Jasons), and more.

Kevin Smith is back with a new film, The 4:30 Movie, which is heavily inspired by the writer and director’s mid ’80s upbringing and his movie-loving teenage years.

The 4:30 Movie takes place in New Jersey, where Smith grew up, and large parts were filmed at the Smodcastle Cinemas, which Smith now co-owns. Soundtracked by Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America,” the trailer for the lighthearted coming-of-age film follows a 16-year-old boy (played by Austin Zajur) who finally works up the courage to ask out his crush, Melody (Siena Agudong), to a 4:30 p.m. R-rated film, before “all hilarity breaks loose.”

The film’s official logline reads, “Writer-director Kevin Smith presents his most personal film to date with this coming-of-age story — set in the summer of 1986 — that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local cineplex. When one of the guys invites...

"Movies make life make sense." Saban Films has unveiled the first official trailer for The 4:30 Movie, the new Kevin Smith coming-of-age comedy, described as "his most personal film" yet. While Smith has made three Clerks movies over the decades, this one is about him, telling the story of his love for movies growing up in New Jersey. Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age story about three 16 year old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. When one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams (Siena Agudong) to see the latest comedy, each of the teens will learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll. Set in the mobile phoneless, social media-free 80s, Smith shot this at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey – the same movie theater he haunted every weekend when he was a teenager.

The 4:30 Movie is the sixteenth feature film from director Kevin Smith, and a while back the movie not only received an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board, but it also secured a distribution deal with Saban Films that will see it reaching theatres on September 13th. Smith showed a trailer for the film to fans who attended his Hall H panel at the San Diego Comic-Con this past Saturday… and now that trailer has made its way online. Check it out in the embed above!

Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age comedy that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams to see the latest comedy, each of the teens will learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll.

The 4:30 Movie is the sixteenth feature film from director Kevin Smith, and a while back the movie not only received an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board, but it also secured a distribution deal with Saban Films that will see it reaching theatres sometime this fall (we had previously heard that it would be out this summer, but it apparently shifted back a little bit). Today, Smith took to social media to unveil a poster for the film, which can be seen at the bottom of this article, while also confirming that he’ll be showing the trailer to fans who attend his Hall H panel at the San Diego Comic-Con this Saturday. The trailer with then drop online next Monday morning, which is also when tickets to the world premiere event will be available for purchase.

Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie is a...

The 4:30 Movie is the sixteenth feature film from director Kevin Smith, and a while back the movie not only received an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board, but it also secured a distribution deal with Saban Films that will see it reaching theatres sometime this fall (we had previously heard that it would be out this summer, but it apparently shifted back a little bit). Today, Smith took to social media to share a behind-the-scenes look at a movie within the movie, and also revealed that he will be showing the trailer for The 4:30 Movie during his panel at the San Diego Comic-Con later this month!

Smith wrote, “Astro Blaster And The Beaver-men is the fake flick all the kids in 1986 wanna see in my new film The 4:30 Movie – coming this fall!. Logic plays the Flash Gordon-ish hero from Earth and Diedrich Bader plays...

More than four years have gone by since it was announced that director André Øvredal and producer Guillermo del Toro were re-teaming for a sequel to their cinematic adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series of books. Last year, Øvredal confirmed that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 was still in the works and a script has been written, the project had just been slowed down by the pandemic, the making of his Dracula movie The Last Voyage of the Demeter, and the Hollywood strikes. We heard in December that writers/producers Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman were fighting to get the sequel made… but now they have given a disappointing update to the folks at Collider: the sequel has stalled.

The screenplay for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 has been written by the first film’s writers Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman,...

The 4:30 Movie is the sixteenth feature film from director Kevin Smith, and a while back the movie not only received an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board, but it also secured a distribution deal with Saban Films that will see it reaching theatres sometime this fall. Smith is currently putting the finishing touches on the film in post-production, and has taken to social media to share a look at the color timing. You can check out the images on Instagram or Facebook.

Smith wrote, “What a difference a little color can make! My new flick that Saban Films is releasing this fall is set in 1986 and titled The 4:30 Movie. So while color timing the film, our cinematographer Yaron Levy was able to dial up the warmth to give the picture the halcyon glow of the 80s!“

Set in the summer of 1986, this one is a coming-of-age...

The 4:30 Movie is the sixteenth feature film from director Kevin Smith – and while he was making the movie, he thought he was making something that would get a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board. But the MPA saw it differently. When they had the chance to watch the movie earlier this year, they felt the sexual references in the dialogue were enough for the movie to earn an R rating for sexual content. Smith appealed the rating (and subscribers to That Kevin Smith Club got some interesting insight into the appeals process), but the ratings board decided to stick with the R. They confirmed today that The 4:30 Movie will remain an R rated film.

Smith has a history of being able to get his films re-rated on appeal. Clerks and Zack and Miri Make a Porno were both given Nc-17 ratings, but were re-rated R on appeal.

Kevin Smith’s new film, The 4:30 Movie, has been shot and has now been snapped up for distribution worldwide: more here.

Rest is not on the agenda for Kevin Smith, who in recent times has invested in the cinema he frequented when he was younger, rebranding it The Smodcastle Cinemas. He co-owns the site, and also shot a film there by the name of The 4:30 Movie.

Starring Austin Zajur, Nicholas Cirillo and Reed Northrup, The 4:30 Movie is described as a 1986-set comedy of age comedy, centred on three 16-year old chums who sneak into the movies every Saturday. What’s this, though? One of them, one day, invites a girl? Honestly. Tsk. Etc. She’s played by Siena Agudong, and also in the cast are Justin Long, Harley Quinn Smith, Keon Jeong and Jason Lee.

Kevin Smith has, of course, in recent times been successfully making low budget films on his terms,...

Having wrapped up (at least for now — there has still been talk of more Jay and Silent Bob movies and that long-anticipated Mallrats sequel) his Clerks universe with the third outing, Kevin Smith is back in original territory. His latest film, The 4:30 Movie, has just landed its first distribution deal.

Not, as you might initially suspect, a play on 4/20 and stoner culture (which has been a fertile subject matter for Smith), it'd actually a coming-of-age comedy set in the heady days of one summer in 1986.

We meet three 16-year-old friends, played by Austin Zajur, Nicholas Cirillo and Reed Northrup, who like nothing more of a Saturday than sneaking into their local multiplex. Divisions creep in when one of them invites the girl of his dreams (Siena Agudong) along, and all end up learning lessons about life and love.

Smith shot the movie in the Smodcastle Cinema he owns in...

Saban Films announced today the acquisition of worldwide rights to the upcoming comedy The 4:30 Movie, directed and written by Kevin Smith.

Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age story about three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams (Siena Agudong) to see the latest comedy, each of the teens will learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll.

Set in the mobile phoneless, social media-free era of the ’80s, Smith shot The 4:30 Movie at his Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey—the same movie theater he haunted every weekend as a teenager. Two years ago, Smith and his co-owners saved the century-old Atlantic Highlands bijou from demolition, renaming it after his podcast theater.

The cast features an all-star ensemble that includes Ken Jeong,...

The 4:30 Movie is the sixteenth feature film from director Kevin Smith – and as reported on Deadline (plus Smith’s own social media accounts), this film has officially secured a distribution deal that will see it reaching theatres sometime this summer! Saban Films has picked up the worldwide rights to The 4:30 Movie, which Smith will be taking on a multi-city national tour that will be followed by a nationwide theatrical rollout. Specific dates have not yet been revealed.

Set in the summer of 1986, this one is a coming-of-age comedy that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams to see the latest comedy, each of the teens will learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll.

Austin Zajur (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), Nicholas Cirillo...

Exclusive: Saban Films has acquired worldwide rights to The 4:30 Movie, the latest film written and directed by Kevin Smith (Clerks). The film marks the second collaboration for Saban and Smith, on the heels of 2019’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, which scored one of the top-per theatre average openings of the year amongst titles like Parasite and Avengers: Endgame.

Set in the summer of 1986, the coming-of-age comedy follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams (Siena Agudong) to see the latest comedy, each of the teens will learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll.

The 4:30 Movie also stars Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Sam Richardson (Veep), Genesis Rodriguez (Tusk), Justin Long (Barbarian), Jason Lee (Almost Famous...

Nearly three and a half years have gone by since it was announced that director André Øvredal and producer Guillermo del Toro were re-teaming for a sequel to their cinematic adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series of books. A few months ago, Øvredal confirmed that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 was still in the works and a script has been written, the project had just been slowed down by the pandemic, the making of his Dracula movie The Last Voyage of the Demeter, and this year’s Hollywood strikes. But now Collider has shared a quote from the producers that indicates there might be some kind of trouble behind the scenes…

The screenplay for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 has been written by the first film’s writers Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman, working from a story crafted by del Toro.

The Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark episode of Wtf Happened to This Adaptation? was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian. Here is the text of Hatfield’s script:

Campfire tales. Town legends. Ghost stories. Whatever you want to call them, they exist as a way to tell stories from one generation to the next. They can be told at summer camp, at sleepovers, or by grandpa when he’s had an extra J & B and is feeling squirrely. They can be urban legends, embellished stories based in fact, or even just a made-up tale to illicit fright from its listeners. For certain generations, the stories of Alvin Schwartz accompanied by the illustrations of Stephen Gammel have terrified kids who stumbled upon them at the Scholastic book fair and given adults Ptsd...

Kevin Smith will return to the director’s chair later this month or the next to direct his next film, “The 4:30 Movie”. Although there is a real strike going on in Hollywood, Smith has gotten a waiver from SAG to move forward with his next film. The film stands as an independent film with a completed script that allowed Smith to apply for a waiver from SAG– American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), informed him earlier this month with the go-ahead.

The New Jersey-born director has been busy going back and forth from California to Jersey for months. If you follow Smith on social media, you know that he sometimes attends movie screenings at his movie theater SModcastle Cinema located at 82 First Ave Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716. “The 4:30 Movie” will follow a group of teens in the 1980s who pay to get into one movie and spend the day theater-hopping.

Nearly three and a half years have gone by since it was announced that director André Øvredal and producer Guillermo del Toro were re-teaming for a sequel to their cinematic adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series of books… but don’t let the extended silence stir up any fears that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 has been cancelled. While speaking with IGN, Øvredal – whose Dracula movie The Last Voyage of the Demeter reaches theatres on August 11th – confirmed that the sequel is still in development!

Øvredal said, “We have a story. We have a script. We’ve been working on the script as late as last year and even slightly into this year. The process obviously stopped with the strike – but it’s alive, for sure. Covid and then [The Last Voyage of the Demeter] eating up two years of...

Kevin Smith is someone who seems genuinely comfortable outside the realm of Hollywood politics. The writer/director has always served his career time on the fringe of the studio system while, at times, dabbing his foot into the crux of a big-budget movie. The foul-mouthed filmmaker also has the ability to produce a movie at a Woody Allen-esque pace as his films are made relatively cheap with non-complex productions. Smith has recently been given the green light to make a new film thanks to a waiver bestowed to him from the Screen Actors’ Guild.

ComicBook.com is reporting that Smith is ready to move forward with his next project, The 4:30 Movie. Smith famously wrote the doomed Superman Lives script for Tim Burton, whose Nicolas Cage incarnation now infamously became realized in The Flash, and he held a script reading event for the unmade project. It was here that the...

Stars: Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, Trevor Fehrman, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Smith, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Austin Zajur | Written and Directed by Kevin Smith

Following a massive heart attack, Randal enlists his friends and fellow clerks Dante, Elias, Jay, and Silent Bob to make a movie immortalizing his life at the convenience store that started it all.

Kevin Smith and his cohorts are back for a third round at the Quick Stop and like his previous Clerks movies, this three-quel calls upon Smith’s own life experiences – namely his well-publicised heart attack – to inform the plot. However Clerks 3 is also a huge love letter to Smith’s films and his fans…

A love letter to Smith’s oeuvre in so much as he homages scenes, lines and characters from a myriad of his previous works. The cast of characters he plucked from obscurity in New Jersey all those years ago returning...

Smith’s geeky comedy is as lightweight as ever, but it retains its charm in the unlikely franchise’s third outing

Having launched his wobbly, weird career with the ultra-low-budget Clerks in 1994, Kevin Smith comes back full circle with a third bite at the cherry, a more lushly produced package than the trilogy’s originator but with the same old scrappy, scattershot mix of gags about adolescent genitalia and bodily fluids, geeky pop-culture references, and natural comic timing. Like the junk food that the central characters sell in their convenience store, it’s a strangely moreish brew that you enjoy but feel faintly guilty about consuming, like nachos with cheese-flavoured sauce or a blue slushy ice drink.

Smith has dabbled in making more conventional features, done standup comedy, podcasting and owned a bricks-and-mortar comic book store, but he knows that the Clerks franchise will always be his legacy. That means...

Clerks III Review — Clerks III (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Austin Zajur, Lisa Hampton, Scott Schiaffo, Dave Ferrier, Aj Wilkerson, Ben Affleck, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Long and [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Clerks III (2022): Kevin Smith Ends a Trilogy with Heartfelt Sincerity and Many Laugh-Out-Loud Funny Scenes...

Brian OÕHalloran as Dante and Jeff Anderson as Randal in Clerks III. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate

Alright you slackers, Labor Day’s in the rearview mirror. Time to “hit the bricks” and get back to work. If your first thought is “Aw, no”, “Ugh!”, or…something we can’t repeat here, then this film might resonate with you. At least that’s what a New Jersey-born filmmaker hopes, since that notion “put him on the map” nearly thirty years ago. And if your earlier response included the “salty talk”, then all the better. Hard to imagine that in 1994 Kevin Smith fashioned a script of his retail drudgery and unleashed Clerks on the world. Soon he was the darling of TV talk shows, getting offers from the major studios, and even flexed his “acting chops” (plus the grungy lil’ black and white was another jewel in the “indie cred crown” of Miramax Studios…...

Stars: Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, Trevor Fehrman, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Smith, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Austin Zajur | Written and Directed by Kevin Smith

Following a massive heart attack, Randal enlists his friends and fellow clerks Dante, Elias, Jay, and Silent Bob to make a movie immortalizing his life at the convenience store that started it all.

Kevin Smith and his cohorts are back for a third round at the Quick Stop and like his previous Clerks movies, this three-quel calls upon Smith’s own life experiences – namely his well-publicised heart attack – to inform the plot. However Clerks 3 is also a huge love letter to Smith’s films and his fans…

A love letter to Smith’s oeuvre in so much as he homages scenes, lines and characters from a myriad of his previous works. The cast of characters he plucked from obscurity in New Jersey all those years ago returning...

In Kevin Smith’s debut feature “Clerks,” way back in 1994, the indie filmmaker told a story of two workaday twentysomethings whose lives were so tragically limited that they not only revolved around retail work, but when the characters did consider life’s big questions and mysteries, their lack of personal experience also left them searching for deeper meaning in pop culture ephemera like “Star Wars.”

Smith was a young filmmaker, naive cinematically but painfully, sometimes embarrassingly earnest in his commitment to capturing the lives of foul-mouthed losers who fill their days with crass sexual humor and existential malaise. Nearly 30 years later — and 16 years after “Clerks II” found his title characters trapped in the same old rut — he’s back with “Clerks III,” a film which doesn’t plumb popular culture for the meaning of life. Instead, it searches for that depth within the original “Clerks” and Smith’s own life story.

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Like an ouroboros that has tired of sucking his own tail and moved on to another body part, Kevin Smith’s Clerks III is about as pure an exercise in self-referential self-gratification as you get on a movie screen, and if your understandable response is, “who the hell asked for this,” well, you’re just not paying attention.

More entrepreneur and raconteur than filmmaker (an assessment he might agree with), Smith knows he has enough loyal followers to justify multiple returns to nearly every well he has dug, at least those related to his “View Askewniverse.” But while some of his many spinoffs and sequels have smelled of near-desperation and little more, this one’s also personal: Inspired by the heart attack that nearly killed him in 2018, it’s a story about valuing those you love and trying to keep living until you’re dead.

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Kevin Smith says he started thinking about another Clerks film after finishing the 2006 sequel. While he ultimately accomplished the task — Clerks III hits theaters courtesy of Lionsgate in partnership with Fathom Events on Sept. 13-18 — the beloved filmmaker is relieved that it’s not based on his original script.

“It opened on the evening of Hurricane Sandy,” Smith detailed to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of Wednesday night’s premiere at Tcl Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood. “Dante and Randal were locked in a jail because the original version of Clerks III was the opening of Jay and Silent Bob Reboot where the cops come in and bust Jay and Silent Bob. All of them were arrested and there’s an interrogation scene and somebody comes in and says, ‘We gotta get ‘em out and put them in cells because it’s coming.’ And [the guys] are like,...