The gang’s all back in Clerks III’s first trailer

Had Kevin Smith not canceled one of his comedy shows in 2018 after suffering an unexpected heart attack, the Clerks director might not have survived to use his brush with death as the basis for Lionsgate’s upcoming Clerks III. Though the specter of humanity’s mortality is what brings Dante, Randal, Jay, and Silent Bob back together in Clerks III’s first trailer, the relatively dark circumstances also remind them that they’ve still got valuable time left to make some of their dreams come true.

Clerks III’s first trailer zooms in on Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) just as he’s having a heart attack at the Quick Stop, where the two have been for decades. While Randal’s heart attack doesn’t kill him, it does leave him inspired to finally make good on his lifelong dream of turning the events of his life into a movie. After a lifetime of obsessively consuming other people’s art, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) return to Jersey to help fulfill Randal’s ultimate wish, and the trailer makes obvious that the gang’s reunion will very much be a send-up / celebration of the original Clerks.

Hyped for more Clerks as fans of the original may be, the newest film will only be in theaters for a brief window before its subsequent home release, and it’s not clear whether there will be additional screenings outside of that period.

Clerks III also stars Marilyn Ghigliotti, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman, Ben Affleck, Fred Armisen, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Buteau, and Marc Bernardin. The movie will play in theaters on September 13th and 15th.