Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Hollywood had it coming.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Production
Budget
$22 000 000
Revenue
$33 788 161
Director
Scenario
Composer
James L. Venable
Producer
Actors
Jason Mewes
Jay
Kevin Smith
Silent Bob
Ben Affleck
Holden McNeil / Ben Affleck
Shannon Elizabeth
Justice
Eliza Dushku
Sissy
Ali Larter
Chrissy
Will Ferrell
Federal Wildlife Marshal Willenholly
Short description
Jay and Silent Bob, the two loiterers who have drifted through Kevin Smith's New Jersey films, learn that a comic book based on them has been optioned for a Hollywood adaptation. The characters, Bluntman and Chronic, are about to become big-screen property, and neither man stands to see any money from it. Word online that they sold out adds insult, so the pair set off across the country for California with the aim of disrupting the production before it can be finished.
Smith wrote and directed the film, his fifth in a run of seventeen, arriving after Dogma and before Jersey Girl. Jason Mewes and Smith himself play the leads, with Ben Affleck, Shannon Elizabeth, Eliza Dushku and Ali Larter among a large credited cast of ninety-one; Scott Mosier produced. Made for roughly 22 million dollars, it returned about 34 million worldwide. Ratings put it at 6.8 on IMDb from 166,000 votes and 6.4 on TMDB from far fewer, with a critics' rating of 6.3, so audiences and reviewers landed in similar middling territory.
What's left behind the scenes
- When Chrissy (Ali Larter) points a knife at Jay (Jason Mewes), he says, "Why do you need a knife? Are we going to cut a cake or something?" This line was originally written for a scene on a train in "Dogma" (1999), which was also directed by Kevin Smith.
- Sean William Scott, Jason Biggs, Eli Marienthal, and Shannon Elizabeth filmed simultaneously for this film and "American Pie 2".
- Kevin Smith's wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, played Missy.
- Shannon Elizabeth (Justice) herself suggested the idea of her character wearing glasses, saying: "Justice is blind" (the word "justice" translates from English as "правосудие").
- The names of the security guards at the Miramax studio are references to well-known characters from various comics. For example, Gordon is James Gordon, the police commissioner of Gotham; Shaw is Sebastian and Shinobi Shaw; and Akines is another police commissioner of Gotham.
- The film ends with a parodic stop-motion frame referencing "Purple Rain" (1984).
- The cards of Jay and Pumpkin Escobar are signed by Kevin Smith as President and Jason Mewes as Secretary of the 'International Brotherhood of Marijuana Distributors, Crack Wholesalers, and Representatives of Similar Professions of the United States of America and Canada'.
- The canyon scene was filmed in the same location as many episodes of the "Star Trek" series.
- Mark Hamill voiced Scooby (the dog in the "Scooby-Doo" scene).
- At one stage of the project's development, it was planned that Seth Green would play Jay in the fictional film that Jay and Silent Bob are trying to stop. At one time, the bosses of Gramercy Pictures wanted to replace Jason Mewes with Seth Green for the filming of "Clerks."
- Initially, Heather Graham was supposed to play Justice, but she declined, stating that she couldn't understand why her character fell in love with Jay.
- The film's trailer was shown in cinemas before screenings of "Scary Movie 2" (2001). Dedicated fans of Kevin Smith bought tickets for this film, but left the cinema after watching the trailer.
- As Jay and Bob walk around the Miramax studio, several men in black suits and one in a police uniform can be seen in the background in one of the scenes. This is a reference to "Reservoir Dogs" (1992).
- When Jay and Silent Bob randomly find Susan on the set of "Scream 4", the main character of the fictional film (Shannon Doherty) expresses extreme surprise that a monkey is hiding under the maniac's mask. During the filming of the "Scream" trilogy, Wes Craven never told the actors who the real killer was.
- Harley Quinn Smith, Kevin Smith’s daughter, played little Silent Bob.
- Ben Affleck and Matt Damon agreed to star in the film because they felt obligated to Kevin Smith. It was Smith who brought the script for "Good Will Hunting" (1997) to Miramax studio, which brought Affleck and Damon to fame.
- In 1999, Kevin Smith published a highly negative review of "Magnolia" (1999) on his forum, which sparked a real war between fans of Paul Thomas Anderson and Kevin Smith. The film "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" contains a nod to this feud: one of the usernames on the forum that Jay and Silent Bob are reading is Magnolia-Fan.
- The word "fuck" is uttered 248 times throughout the film.
- When the van supposedly containing Justice explodes, a song plays in the background containing the lyrics: “Justice is dead… or so Jay thinks.”
- To help promote the commercial success of the film during its opening weekend, Kevin Smith organized an unusual promotion: he personally signed mini-posters of the film for anyone who sent in tickets showing they had seen the film on August 24th or 25th, 2001.
- "Provazik" is the name of the pharmaceutical company that Jay and Bob break into. The same name was used for a "miracle drug" in "The Fugitive" (1993).
- Alanis Morissette played the same role as in "Dogma" (1999). Her character appears in the film for the first and last time… after the end credits.
- After a security guard at Miramax studio (Dietrich Bader) catches Jay and Silent Bob, he asks for "Echo Base" over the radio. "Echo Base" is the code name for the rebel outpost on Hoth in the film "Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back" (1980).
- The same photograph of Chris Rock was used for the posters and DVD cover as was used for *Dogma* (1999).
- The name of one of the characters, Marshall Willenholly, is a composite of the names of three characters: Marshall, Willie, and Holly from the series "Land of the Lost" (1974).
- The pizza delivery guy for “Joe’s Marvelous Pizza” is Joe Quesada, Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief of comics.
- The number 37 is frequently referenced in Kevin Smith's films. In this film, you can notice a banner that reads "Congratulations on our 37th robbery." The scene that Jay and Bob stumble upon is labeled "Scene 37, Take 1." Justice's prison number is 373737.
- Since Ben Affleck returned to the role of Holden (his same character in "Chasing Amy"), Kevin Smith initially wanted to cast other actors in the roles of Affleck and Matt Damon for a parody of "Good Will Hunting" (1997). Potential candidates included Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. In the end, Kevin cast Ben Affleck and Matt Damon… as Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
- The film contains numerous references and allusions to "Star Wars" (1977) and subsequent installments of the popular space saga.
- When Jay and Silent Bob are fleeing from security guards at the Miramax studio, they run past people filming "Daredevil." The person directing the shoot is Mark Steven Johnson, who later directed "Daredevil" (2003). And Kevin Smith was the author of several episodes of the "Daredevil" comic book.
- The film contains numerous references and allusions to "Jaws" (1975).
- David Duchovny was supposed to play a small role, but ultimately declined to participate in the film.
- The costumes of the four female thieves strongly resemble those of Black Widow and Black Cat, well-known characters from Marvel Comics.
- Shannon Elizabeth was initially intended to play a small role, but her audition impressed Kevin Smith so much that he offered her the lead female role.
- The name of Brodie’s comic book store, “Brodie’s Secret Stash,” is a slightly altered version of the name of Kevin Smith’s actual comic book store – “Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash,” which is located in New Jersey.
- Several scenes in the film, such as the storyline about Susan and the parody of "The Fugitive" (1993), were borrowed from Kevin Smith’s graphic novel "Searching for Dogma." This comic depicted Jay and Silent Bob’s journey from New Jersey to Illinois, which took place between the events in the films "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma."
- Despite the fact that Randall and Dante appear very early in the film and then again at the very end, the scenes with their participation were filmed last. This was because Kevin Smith initially did not plan to include these characters in the film, but then rightly decided that a film intended to conclude the story of the View Askewniverse should include the heroes with whom it all began. Five years later, Kevin Smith would return to his favorite characters and shoot a postscript – "Clerks 2" (2006).
- Kevin Smith wanted to include a sequel parody of 'Pulp Fiction' (1994) in the film and invite Quentin Tarantino, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Uma Thurman. Travolta and Jackson were to play characters similar to Jay and Silent Bob, Quentin Tarantino was to play an angry director who is constantly yelling at everyone, and Uma Thurman was to play an actress obsessed with her beauty. All the actors agreed, but unfortunately, the scene was never filmed due to time and budget constraints.
- Silent Bob speaks 102 words in the film.
- The film initially received an NC-17 rating, so many scenes had to be re-edited to obtain an R rating.
- "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" was the fifth film in the so-called View Askewniverse. Other films include "Clerks" (1994), "Mallrats" (1995), "Chasing Amy" (1996), "Dogma" (1999), and "Clerks 2" (2006).
- Originally, the plot was going to revolve around Jay and Silent Bob trying to save their favorite store.
- In one scene, Jay asks Jason Biggs (playing himself) if he 'hooked up with that Russian chick.' This is a reference to Nadia from 'American Pie' (1999), played by Shannon Elizabeth (Justice).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
