Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back has been moved back from its original August 10th release date to August 24th.   Smith made the move after consulting with Dimension Films, which will be releasing the latest opus from the 'Bluntcave.'  Timing is always critical, but nowhere is it more important than in opening a film during the busy summer season.  Of particular concern to Smith was the August 3rd debut of Rush Hour 2, which re-teams Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in another frenetic cop thriller with lots of humor and martial arts fireworks.  Moving Jay and Silent Bob back also avoids potential conflicts with the teen-grossout comedy American Pie 2 and Warner Bros. animated comedy Osmosis Jones, which debut on August 10th.

 

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back won't come anywhere close to The Mummy Returns opening weekend box office total, but it will probably be more important to specialty market retailers thanks to Bluntman and Chronic figures from Graphitti Designs and a comic series from Image (see 'Best in Shows').  Kevin Smith continues to be one of the most important figures in the industry thanks to both his filmmaking and his writing for the comics.  Having penned a popular Daredevil series for Marvel as well as the consensus hottest comic going -- his Green Arrow series for DC -- Kevin Smith is a polymath apparently equally adept in all phases of popular culture.