Chewlie’s gum will be back at the Quick Stop in Kevin Smith’s upcoming sequel Clerks III. Written and directed by Smith, the movie is now wrapping up filming after a month-long shoot at the original Quick Stop store in Leonardo, New Jersey. Smith has previously teased his plans to fill Clerks III with Easter eggs and other homages to the original movie which even includes recreating some of the same shots.
Several original characters from Clerks will be appearing in Clerks III, including Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson in the lead roles as Dante Hicks and Randal Graves. In a recent post on Instagram, actor Scott Schiaffo has also teased our first look at the return of the Chewlie’s gum salesman seen in the original Clerks. The character, who had a very memorable scene with Dante and his then-girlfriend Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti), is apparently still representing Chewlie’s in Leonardo after all these years.
The Instagram post reads: “Back to the scene of the crime! Had an amazing time on set, Chewlies guy was and still is a character actor’s dream gig! Thank you @thatkevinsmith for having me along and for the hilarious turn ole Chewlies takes this time out! Thanks to @briancohalloran, @marilynghigliotti, @jaymewes, #jeffanderson, @odblues7 and the entire cast and crew for giving me these cherished memories and for your support! And thank you to my sweetheart, @carriewerner48, without you I’m meat! And last but never LEAST, thank you to all of the View Askew supporters who have kept Kevin’s universe alive and relevant for almost 3 decades.”
In Clerks, Schiaffo plays a man who hangs around at the Quick Stop trying to convince shoppers to purchase Chewlie’s gum instead of cigarettes. Not revealing that he works for the company, Schiaffo uses props to illustrate the health hazards of smoking, managing to form a small mob that starts pelting cigarettes at Dante. The helpless clerk’s girlfriend Veronica makes the save with a fire extinguisher, going on to learn his true identity as a Chewlie’s gum salesman before kicking him out of the store.
Of course, Kevin Smith and Jay Mewes will also be back as Jay and Silent Bob. Trevor Fehrman and Rosario Dawson reprise their respective roles from Clerks II as Elias and Becky as well. Inspired by Smith’s real-life heart attack, the movie follows Randal suffering a heart attack of his own and gathering his friends to make a movie about their lives as Quick Stop clerks. It’s a case of art imitating life with the parallels of Smith making the original movie in the early 1990s.
Big Clerks fans can go ahead and purchase official Chewlie’s brand gum of their own to chew while watching Clerks III the day it comes out. Food Askew for You, which offers official food items inspired by Smith’s View Askew movies, has packs of Chewlie’s gum for sale now. The gum comes in both spearmint and peppermint, and is described by the website as the “only gum that prevents Cruddy Lung.”
Clerks III does not yet have an official release date set by Lionsgate. With filming wrapping up, that information will hopefully be announced soon. In the meantime, if you want to purchase yourself a pack or two of Chewlie’s gum instead of a pack of cigarettes at your local convenience store, you can find it for sale from Food Askew for You.