Kevin Smith Opens Up About His Emotional Reunion With Lifelong Friend Ben Affleck

This past Saturday night, Kevin Smith closed out the day at San Diego Comic-Con’s famous Hall H with a panel dedicated to his new film, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. This upcoming film will revisit the characters he made famous and will center around Jay and Silent Bob (played by Smith) on an adventure in Hollywood to stop a ‘Bluntman and Chronic’ reboot from being made.

The movie boasts an insanely awesome cast, just as we would expect from the filmmaker’s catalog of ensemble films. The new and returning cast includes Smith and Jason Mewes as the title characters, Chris Hemsworth, Shannon Elizabeth, Matt Damon, Melissa Benoist, Val Kilmer, Joe Manganiello, Rosario Dawson, Grant Gustin, Justin Long, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Kate Micucci, Jason Biggs, Harley Quinn Smith, David Dastmalchian, James Van Der Beek, Diedrich Bader, Tom Cavanagh, Craig Robinson, Molly Shannon, Method Man, Tommy Chong, and many others, including Ben Affleck.

Fans of Smith’s films may think Affleck would naturally be in any film with his old friends, but it almost didn’t happen. Smith opened up about the strain on their friendship after a falling out, and what it was that brought them back together. It’s very cool to hear, and I’m so glad they were able to put the past behind them and move forward.

Check out the Instagram post below with the picture of Smith, Affleck and Mewes, and get ready for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot when it hits theatres on October 15, 2019.

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MY BOYFRIEND’S BACK! When the trailer for @jayandsilentbob Reboot dropped (link in my bio), folks found out a few of our secrets - one of the biggest being that @benaffleck is back as Holden McNeil! The co-creator of #bluntmanandchronic and friend of #jayandsilentbob plays a crucial role in the Reboot and his scene is one of the best bits of cinema I’ve ever been involved with: it’s absolutely magical and life-affirming and all the things I really care about now, post-heart attack. But when we started shooting the movie, the scene didn’t exist. This scene - and more importantly, my reunion with a guy who I’ve missed terribly for nearly a decade - only happened because of @kevinmccarthytv. Kev interviewed Ben for his @netflix movie #triplefrontier and kicked off by asking Ben “Did they call you for Reboot yet?” And Ben said no, but he was available. So producer @jordanmonsanto said “Call Ben.” I told her “That’s just some nice shit to say at a junket. He wasn’t serious.” A week later, Jordan, @jaymewes and @jenschwalbach we’re all pressing me to reach out to Ben, so I finally did. I was scared to be rejected, but I texted him “To paraphrase the sad old King Osric in CONAN THE BARBARIAN? ‘There comes a time when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a director’s love for the people he used to make pretend with.’” And after a long beat of wondering how he’d receive this, my estranged friend wrote back as only he could: “Of course you still liken yourself to a king,” he joked. And then “Would be a pleasure to see you again, Old Man.” So naturally, weepy me - who breaks down emotionally during comic book flicks - was a blubbery mess. Not only did we score an amazing scene for the flick, but I also got my friend back - all because of entertainment journalism. Thank you, #kevinmccarthytv - your #viewaskew themed opening question not only allowed me to make an 8 page sequel to #chasingamy in the middle of #JayAndSilentBobReboot, it also brought back a massive missing piece of my heart. #KevinSmith #benaffleck #JasonMewes #reunited #comiccon #holdenmcneil

A post shared by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on Jul 19, 2019 at 7:54am PDT