Kevin Smith Isn’t Sure Whether The Bomb Threat At The Theater He Bought Is ‘Legit’ Or A Joke About His Movies Bombing

Kevin Smith is returning to New Jersey in Clerks III — and by purchasing the movie theater of his childhood. The weed-loving filmmaker revealed that he’s buying the Atlantic Moviehouse in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, “where I’d go to the movies with my Dad and where I spent the many frivolous Friday nights of my Jersey teenage youth,” he wrote on Instagram. The theater will be renamed SModcastle Cinemas.

The deal to co-own the 250-seat property with his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith (the inspiration for The Tweet), and other business partners isn’t expected to close until September 14, but Smith is already dealing with the perils of proprietorship: bomb threats. “So… @SModcastle Keeper @ernieodonnell7 forwarded me this text from Tony, our friend who runs the movie theater we’re buying (and will also run @SmodCinemas),” he tweeted, along with a screenshot of the message. It reads:

“I don’t want to alarm you but, we just got a call at the theater. The person asked my manager if Kevin Smith was buying the theater. They said that we shouldn’t do that and that if we did, there would be bomb threats. I have informed Fred Rast who instructed us to inform the police. My manager has called the police to report it. The number is a California number. I’m sure it was some a-hole kids. But I thought you should know. I’ll keep you updated.”

[extremely old man voice] Back in the 1990s, teenagers hung out by convenience stores and argued about Star Wars. Now they’re making bomb threats to movie theaters and, well, they’re still arguing about Star Wars. I guess some things never change.

Smith’s daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, is “worried” that this is a legitimate threat, but he thinks “it’s a joke about how my movies have ‘bombed’ in theaters. Thoughts” Come on, Yoga Hosers wasn’t that bad… OK, yes, it was, but not “bomb threat” bad.

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) August 8, 2022