The global spread of COVID-19 has left us living in very unusual times, and even when life returns to some semblance of normality, the effects of the virus will be felt for years to come, and that goes for Hollywood as well. Kevin Smith has been hard at work on a script for his long-awaited sequel to MALLRATS, and the writer/director recently spoke with the Asbury Park Press about how the current crisis is affecting the new story.
Smith said that he's about 20 pages away from completing the script for MALLRATS 2, but that it's "being reformed, as we speak, by the pandemic, by coronavirus, because clearly this is something that affects us going forward, from now through all time. Nobody’s forgetting about this. This isn’t a minor blip in the history of humanity. Everything we do from here on in in the arts that reflects life is going to include this time in our history. It’s not like you can ignore it or something like that." It will be interesting to see how such a devastating real-world event will factor into the MALLRATS sequel, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see.
Speaking of MALLRATS, the original film will soon be streaming on Focus Features' Facebook page on April 20th, with Kevin Smith hosting a watch party for the film. "This is right up my alley," Smith told APP. "Hanging out with a bunch of people that like my old movies? That’s all I ever do." The livestream will include a link to donate to the Entertainment Industry Foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund and Smith urged viewers to "help where you can, but if you can’t don’t worry about it. Not everyone can help, some people need to be helped. If you’re one of the people that needs to be helped, kick back, watch, enjoy the show. Don’t hit that donation button, don’t even think about it."