Clerks III first look image of Kevin Smith’s sequel

It’s been nearly thirty years since Kevin Smith first introduced us to Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) in his breakout indie comedy Clerks, and the writer/director is back at it with Clerks III. The sequel is currently shooting and Vanity Fair has the first look at Clerks III, which reunites the cast of the original and its 2006 sequel. You can check out that image, as well as its Clerks II inspiration, below!

Inspired by Smith’s real-life heart attack, Clerks III will find Randal having suffered a massive heart attack and enlisting fellow clerks Dante, Elias, Jay, and Silent Bob in order to make a movie immortalizing his life at the convenience store that started it all. As you can see in the image above, Clerks III will also feature the return of Trevor Fehrman as Alias and Rosario Dawson as Becky, who first appeared in Clerks II.

Although Kevin Smith has returned to Dante and Randal several times in other films, he told Vanity Fair that he wishes he had made many more installments of the Clerks series. “I wish this was Clerks 19,” Smith said. “I wish I’d been doing this the whole f**king time, man. These characters are so close to my heart, and finally letting them take the journey that they sent me on is a big deal for me. Without Dante and Randal, I’m not where I am.” The worldwide rights to the sequel were acquired by Lionsgate last month and although there’s not an official release date for Clerks III just yet, it’s expected to launch in 2022.