Kevin Smith's Next Jay And Silent Bob Outing Could Be A Horror Movie

Kevin Smith has stayed busy in recent years, from releasing the long-awaited "Clerks III" in 2022 to his upcoming '80s-set "The 4:30 Movie." This is to say nothing of the movie theater he co-owns in New Jersey, his several podcasts, live shows, and working on "Masters of the Universe" for Netflix. The man isn't slowing down 30 years into his career, to be certain. Now, he's gearing up for a third "Jay and Silent Bob" movie, one that will pick up in the aftermath of 2019's "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot." While much remains mysterious, it appears as though Smith might be returning to the horror genre for this one.

The director recently took to Instagram to share a sneak peek at the upcoming flick in the form of a prop called The NecroBobicon. This is a riff on The Necronomicon, which has been featured in the "Evil Dead" franchise since its inception in the '80s. Whether it's just an ode to Sam Raimi or something more, this provides a bit of evidence that Smith might just be doing something other than just a pure comedy.

"Behold the NecronomiKev – The Book of the Dead Film Careers! Kidding (kinda). It's actually called The NecroBobicon! I commissioned Nick Brown (graduate of the Tom Savini School) to unearth this ancient, evil tome that features in the new Jay and Silent Bob flick Jay Mewes and I start shooting later this year. The NecroBobicon doesn't swallow your soul – but legend has it that misuse of the book will leave the reader forever silent..." Smith said in the caption to his post.

Should he be going the horror route, it would be Smith's first horror film since 2014's "Tusk," a movie he's also planning to make a sequel to. That was a straight-up, twisted body horror picture, in which Justin Long was captured and turned into a walrus by a madman, played by the late Michael Parks.

Smith later made a sequel/spin-off titled "Yoga Hosers," which was more of a horror/comedy. That's most likely what we'd be looking at as it's hard to imagine Jay and Silent Bob going full-on horror. Plus, based on the filmmaker's comments from the past, we know he's not abandoning comedy with this one.

Taking to Instagram in January, Smith said the film "will see us back in the costumes and fake-hair-hat for a funny f*****g flick about an escalating war in the Central Jersey legal weed business!" Those remain the only firm plot details we have. However, on an episode of "Fatman Beyond" in December 2023, Smith offered a little insight into how he's approaching the new "Jay and Silent Bob" movie, saying the following:

"I'm writing it in the way that I wrote Red State....anytime I know where the movie's going, that means the audience knows where the movie's going, and since it's a Jay and Silent Bob movie, and...I dunno, the 18th...probably the audience knows where a lot of it's going to go. Any time I feel that way, I just turn the tables and write something completely different. Any time I know what the punchline is, I'm forcing myself to find a different punchline to undercut it and stuff. So I'm using it as an exercise to sharpen the comedic knives, if you will."

Smith's "Red State" was a major departure and was very much a horror movie of sorts. So who knows? It's certainly interesting that he's using that as a touchstone, coupled with the "Evil Dead" imagery. Smith certainly likes horror quite a bit, it seems, as he also intended to make "Moose Jaws," which he always called "Jaws, but with a moose." That one never got off the ground but horror still appears to be in Smith's DNA.

The new "Jay and Silent Bob" movie does not currently have a release date.