Kevin Smith’s ‘Jay And Silent Bob Reboot’ Adds Joe Manganiello, Craig Robinson, And More

By
John Nolan
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Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back remains my favorite of his films, which is saying something because his early stuff spoke to me in a way few movies did. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to see much good in Smith’s recent stuff like Tusk, Yoga Hosers, and Red State, but there’s reason for optimism in what he’s doing now. Smith has fulfilled his promise and begun shooting on Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, which like the original movie will have tons of celebrity cameos.

Smith took to Instagram and revealed some of the cast that will be joining him and Jason Mewes as the titular hetero lifemates.  The biggest new addition is Joe Manganiello, who is playing a bailiff, SMILF creator and star Frankie Shaw as a prosecutor, plus Justin Long and Craig Robinson, making this an unexpected Zack & Miri reunion. Others confirmed to return are Jason Lee reprising his role as Brodie Bruce, and Brian O’Halloran as Dante Hicks, who I hope hasn’t let Rosario Dawson slip away. The Flash‘s Grant Gustin is also expected to appear, hopefully as himself.

The story finds Jay and Silent Bob traveling across the country to Hollywood to stop a reboot of Bluntman & Chronic. Here’s hoping we get another ham-fisted cameo by Mark Hamill, and maybe Smith’s pal Ben Affleck will stop by. Those guys aren’t busy, are they?

The best part of all this is that Smith seems to be having the time of his life, catching up with old friends and making some new ones. I don’t know if it was his recent health scare that sparked this new energy in him, but I’m glad he’s back and doing what he loves again.

Here come da’ Judge! @jayandsilentbob had to go to court yesterday with a comedic legal dream team that included a pair of #zackandmirimakeaporno veterans! On the bench was the honorable @mrcraigrobinson, who fought frigid Pittsburgh winter weather with me a decade ago to make a Porno. Speaking of Penguins country, Pittsburgh’s own @deathsaves Dungeon master Mister @joemanganiello was our Bailiff (with producer @jordanmonsanto playing his twin). The creator, star and director of my favorite show, @sho_smilf (as well as my costar in the #hollyweed pilot) @frankieshawisag joined us as the Prosecutor! And for the Defense – my @tuskthemovie brother-in-sewn-up-arms, the genius @therealstephenblatt as the Lawyer (who sounds an awful lot like a Bobby Long-less Brandon St. Randy)! Reboot looks like my extended family scrap book, with cameos from folks I’ve worked with for years (and a few famous folks I’ve never met before but am looking forward to making pretend beside). And these fine folks flew all the way to #nola the day before #mardigras to fling funny around and make my movie better. And since I know what they got paid, I’m relatively sure they didn’t do it for the meager money. There’s a lot of love in this photo (which more resembles the key art for a “Night Court” reboot than the actual scene we shot yesterday). I appreciate that love and send it right back to my fellow thespians for making the cross-country Reboot-y Call! #KevinSmith #jasonmewes #craigrobinson #justinlong #frankieshaw #joemanganiello #deathsaves #jayandsilentbobreboot #JayandSilentBob #JayandSilentBobStrikeBack #indiefilm #indiefilmmaking @dpronlevy @traceylandon @destrofilms @jaymewes @jayandsilentbob @jordanmonsanto @kylebonokaplan ? @saban_films @universalpictures @skitbags @hideoutpictures @legionmofficial
A post shared by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on Mar 5, 2019 at 12:30pm PST

One year ago today, I almost died. So today, I’m living it up on with @jaymewes and Jason Lee on Day 1 of my new flick @jayandsilentbob Reboot! Thanks to @saban_films and Universal for the loot to make this epic, @jordanmonsanto and @destrofilms for making it happen, @jenschwalbach and @harleyquinnsmith for humoring my goofy bullshit one more time, and #jasonmewes for standing beside me all these years while I do the hardest thing I can personally ever do, either in film or in real life: simply shut the fuck up. I couldn’t think of a better scene with which to start the shoot than the return to the Mall with Brodie Bruce. The three of us gathered for a couple hours last night to run the lines and realized we first rehearsed together waaaaay back in the mid-90’s. It may be 24 years later and we may have 6 kids between us, but Jay, Lee and me partied like it was 1995, giggling while adding jokes and finding inflections. The Oscars were on in the background during our practice and I couldn’t help but feel relief when the “In Memoriam” montage ended and I wasn’t in it. We picked 2/25 as the Reboot start date *intentionally*, to celebrate the fact that I did not become Silent Bob forever 365 days ago. But after a blissful couple hours of making pretend with my friends on the set of my 14th film, I’m starting to think I *did* die in that operating room after all. Because what could be more Heavenly than this? #KevinSmith #jayandsilentbob #jayandsilentbobreboot #jasonlee #jaymewes #neworleans #brodiebruce #wwambassador #movie
A post shared by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on Feb 25, 2019 at 12:01pm PST

A post shared by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on Feb 27, 2019 at 8:27am PST

SNOOGANS! Here’s a first look at @jayandsilentbobreboot, courtesy of our genius @dpronlevy and our master stills artist @kylebonokaplan. On this adventure, Silent Bob’s dressed pretty much the same as he’s been in #Dogma through #clerks2, but Jay’s outfit has changed a bit, including his Ranger Danger t-shirt designed by @captain_ribman (the artist who created my Fat Man logo). Years back when I was working on Clerks III, Ribman and I came up with a slew of Ranger Danger comic covers to flesh out the world of the flick and make it seem like Ranger Danger had been around as long as Superman and the Fantastic Four. When Clerks III went away, the artwork sat dormant on my laptop for years. But when Reboot started taking serious shape, I blew the dust off the Ranger Danger artwork and put it to work all over Brodie’s Secret Stash. But I saved the Dark Knight-ish Ranger Danger: Requiem shirt for Jay to wear throughout the flick because in the world of our movie, Ranger Danger: Requiem is a gritty, rebooted version of a childhood superhero fave. Today marks the end of Week One of filming, and what a wonderful week it’s been! We’ve already shot a fist fulla cameos and @JayMewes is CRUSHING his return to the role that made him famous! If you’re way into this shit like I am, we’ve kicked off a making-of series on my @youtube channel (like we did for Clerks II back in 2006) called “The Road to Reboot”! See it at the link in my bio. #KevinSmith #jaymewes #movie #jayandsilentbobreboot #nola #sabanfilms #neworleans #wwambassador
A post shared by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on Mar 1, 2019 at 4:52am PST

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