Kevin Smith is considering following up his cult film Mallrats as a tribute to the late Shannen Doherty.
In an interview with People, Smith, 53, said Doherty, who died on July 13 after losing a long battle with cancer, told him she “really wanted to do” a second Mallrats during a conversation between the pair in recent months.
The sequel to 1995’s Mallrats, which saw Doherty play the character of Rene Mosier alongside Jason Lee, Jeremy London and Ben Affleck, has already been written by Smith and was floated several years ago before stalling in 2023 due to studio issues.
Smith told the outlet that picking up the project, titled Twilight of the Mallrats, may be on the cards. “At the very least, as a ‘for Shannen,’ that’d be a cool thing to do,” the Chasing Amy director said.
The Clerks director shared further details into his final conversation with the Charmed actress, revealing that Mallrats’ success is a testament to Doherty’s performance in the film. “It was weird when it came out, it didn’t do well,” Smith said. “But when we first came to the Comic-Con 29 years ago, man, we were embraced and we were largely embraced because of her, because she had the credibility in the crowd.”
Smith added that they also talked about Doherty attending Vulgarathon, a film event in New Jersey that begins on Saturday, August 3, where Mallrats will be screened.
“The last conversations we were having was about her coming out to Jersey for the Vulgarathon because she had done a bunch of cons and whatnot, and she met the Mallrats contingency and stuff,” he said. “So I was like, ‘Oh my God, Shannen, you come and watch the movie in our theater and stuff, that’ll just put you on the throne.’ ”
Smith appeared on an episode of Doherty’s podcast, “Let’s Be Clear”, in January.
During the podcast, the pair discussed reading the script for Twilight of the Mallrats, which Smith revealed he’d been sitting on “for quite some time.” In a February episode of “Let’s Be Clear,” Doherty told her listeners that the script is “sweet and nostalgic … in a really, really good way.”
Doherty’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, confirmed the Beverly Hills, 90210 star’s death in a statement to Us Weekly on July 14.
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease,” the statement read. “The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace.”
