Kevin Smith developing ‘Mallrats’ television series

PHILADELPHIA, June 13 (UPI) — Director Kevin Smith has announced that he is developing a television series based on his 1995 fan-favorite comedy, Mallrats.

“We started reconfiguring the idea of doing Mallrats not as a film but as a series, and Universal and I are just about to close our deal to do Mallrats the series,” the filmmaker said on Philadelphia’s The Preston & Steve Show on WMMR.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Smith had originally attempted to develop a film sequel to Mallrats entitled Mallbrats, but that plans changed after he discovered that Universal wanted to continue holding onto the film’s rights.

“We submitted the script and my agent comes back to me and he goes, ‘Well, apparently Universal has never let a catalogue title go, any title they own, they’ve retained. They’ve never done something where they’re like, ‘Oh, you can take it back and go make a sequel.’ Never in the history of the studio,’” Smith explained.

“So we entered a protracted negotiation with Universal trying to get it made in different pockets of the studio.”

Mallrats which starred Jason Lee, Jeremy London and a host of gust stars such as Ben Affleck and Stan Lee, followed a group of friends who attempt to forget their recently failed relationships by spending time at their local mall.

Smith’s latest comedy film Yoga Hosers starring his daughter Harley Quinn Smith, Lily-Rose Depp and her father Johnny Depp, is set to arrive in theaters July 29. The first trailer, released recently, featured the trio fighting off an army of evil Nazi bratwursts.