Prior to the airing of the ill-fated
Clerks:The Animated Series, creator
Kevin Smith considered the possibility of making a full-length, animated
Clerks movie. The working title of the film was (and perhaps maybe "still is," but more on that later...)
Clerks: Sell Out.
Despite the failure of the series,the show had gained a loyal following on DVD and thus Smith was determined to put the movie out. At first he had his sights set on a summer 2002 release for the film and at the 2002 Orlando Megacon, Smith revealed that the plot of the film would involve "Dante and Randall making a low-budget black and white film at the convenience store and consequently become famous." Which parallels the success Smith had after making his original film Clerks. Delays began to mount, yet at the 2003 Wizard World East Con Smith claimed that Clerks: Sell Out was "in the front line" after Jersey Girl was released. Around then, test footage for the movie done by Powerhouse Animation was released on ViewAskew.com.
In early 2004, Smith voiced the idea of doing the movie straight-to-video and releasing one new Clerks cartoon movie a year. Smith cited that it would have "TONS of fun references and be catered to the die hard View Askew fan."
Yet to the present day, Clerks: Sell Out is very much in limbo. Recent statements made by Smith have cited that he believes that Clerks 2 brings closure to the characters of Dante Hicks and Randal Graves and thus he doesn't plan on ever using them again. But considering this is coming from the guy who claimed View Askewniverse was closed in 2001 with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Clerks 2 will re-open it) and that Clerks 2 wouldn't be a cameo heavy affair (which it isn't...except for cameos by Wanda Skyes, Kevin Weisman, Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee and Ben Affleck)...I'm betting there's a possibility that Clerks: Sell Out will become a cool reality instead of being just a cool idea.