Video rental stores may be a thing of the distant past, but the Clerks are headed back to work.

Kevin Smith announced Monday that Lionsgate bought worldwide rights to Smith’s third outing in the series, which is now in pre-production and is set to start shooting in New Jersey this August, including a location shoot at the Quick Stop in Leonardo, NJ.

Smith will direct his screenplay, and all the major cast members from the first two Clerks films are coming back for the third outing. This includes Jeff Anderson as Randal, Brian O’Halloran as Dante, Jay Mewes as Jay, Smith as Silent Bob, and Rosario Dawson as Becky. The film will be produced by Liz Destro and Jordan Monsanto.

The 1994 film was shot on a miniscule budget (partially funded when Smith sold his comic book collection), at the convenience store where Smith worked. It centered on mopey Dante, played by Brian O’Halloran, and slacker Randal, played by Jeff Anderson, and followed them through a day in their lives as hourly wage slaves. Smith appeared as Silent Bob, companion to Jason Mewes fast-talking Jay.

The film made Smith famous, and spawned a sequel in 2006, which added Dawson and Trevor Fehrman to the ensemble; they’re returning for the third, Smith confirmed. Those movies spawned a whole cinematic universe, known as the “Askewniverse,” which includes the original 1994 movie, 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back; 2006’s Clerks II; and 2019’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. There was also a short-lived animated Clerks series on ABC.

The storyline behind Clerks III has Randal surviving a massive hear attack and enlisting Dante, Elias, Jay and Silent Bob to make a movie immortalizing his life at the convenience store where it all started. Smith himself survived a “widow-maker” heart attack in 2018.

Clerks III almost went into production several times, including back in 2017, when Anderson pulled out of the project. This caused a rift between Smith and Anderson, but the two made amends in 2019 at a Clerks anniversary event.

Smith said on Twitter, “There’s a saying from the Tao that goes something like ‘To be great is to go on. To go on is to go far. To go far is to return.’ Thanks to Lionsgate, we get to return to where it all started with almost the whole cast that started it all! And for the first time since the first time we ever made a movie in 1993, we’re shooting the entire flick on location in New Jersey, as an ode to both the enduring allure of cinema and the resourcefulness and lunacy of its storytellers. Years ago, Dante and Randal made me a filmmaker – so now it’s time I return the favor.”

Smith’s most recent project is the Masters of the Universe: Revelation animated series, which premieres on Netflix July 23rd. Clerks III is tentatively scheduled to be released in 2022.