Sumith Prasad
The filming of Kevin Smith’s ‘The 4:30 Movie’ is set to begin in New Jersey in late August. Set in the 1980s, the period film revolves around three suburban teenagers’ theater-hopping adventures. The period drama was written before the WGA strike began, which makes it eligible for production. Smith also received a waiver from SAG-AFTRA to shoot the film in New Jersey, a significant filming location of popular projects such as ‘Succession,’ ‘Severance,’ ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ Ben Kingsley-starrer ‘Jules,’ ‘American Hustle,’ ‘Mean Girls,’ etc.
Smith, who is at the helm of the film, also penned the same based on his real-life experiences. “It’s a movie that’s set in 1986 and it’s set at this movie theater right here, and it’s kind of about me and [‘Clerks’ star Ernie O’Donnell] and our friend Michael Belicose, and what we used to do with our free times when we were kids. We would go to the movies at a multiplex like this, pay for one movie, and then hop from movie to movie all day long and see free movies,” the actor-director told a crowd during a script reading of ‘Superman Lives,’ the abandoned ‘Superman’ film he wrote for Tim Burton.
Smith is best known for ‘Clerks,’ a comedy film he directed, wrote, co-produced, and in which he plays the character Silent Bob of the stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob. After the success of the same, Smith made ‘Clerks II’ and ‘Clerks III’ as well. His recent credits as a director include ‘KillRoy Was Here,’ ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot,’ Johnny Depp-starrer ‘Yoga Hosers,’ ‘Tusk,’ etc. He also created ‘View Askewniverse,’ the fictional universe where some of his most popular films, including ‘Clerks,’ Ben Affleck-starrer ‘Chasing Amy,’ and Matt Damon-starrer ‘Dogma,’ are set. His credits as an actor include the ‘Clerk’ films, ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,’ ‘The Disaster Artist,’ Ben Affleck-starrer ‘Daredevil,’ etc.
Austin Zajur, who plays Chuck Steinberg in ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ and Blockchain Coltrane in ‘Clerks III,’ plays an integral but unrevealed character in the film. Zajur’s other well-known performances include Travor in Apple TV+’s comedy series ‘Mythic Quest,’ Hoodie in ‘Bad Connection,’ Nate in ‘9-1-1,’ Kai in ABC’s sitcom ‘The Conners,’ etc. The actor also appears in Charlie Day’s ‘Fool’s Paradise,’ ‘Student Body,’ Freeform’s mystery series ‘Cruel Summer,’ Jenna Ortega-starrer ‘The Fallout,’ etc.
Scott Moiser and Jordan Monsanto, who produced several of Smith’s previous films, serve as producers of the movie. Smith and Moiser’s View Askew Productions collaborates with Jordan’s Smodcast Pictures for the production of the period drama.
Read More: Best Period Dramas on Amazon Prime
