Could the ultimate cult film actually make it to the number one spot during its debut week?  Though the smart money may be on John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back has a chance to be the number one film on a weekend when the competition is weaker than its been since the 'summer' movie season began on the first weekend in May.   The final film in Kevin Smith's New Jersey Chronicles, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back benefits from appearances and cameos by some of Hollywood's top stars including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, as well as from its picaresque, road-movie structure that manages to poke fun at both Hollywood in general and some big budget movies (Charlie's Angels) in particular.  Miramax has demonstrated its faith in the project by running a fairly aggressive ad campaign that could even yield the number one spot if the teenage moviegoing audience has finally tired of American Pie 2 or of the prospect of John Carpenter's fifth thinly veiled remake of Assault on Precinct 13.

 

Whether Jay and Bob Strike Back ends up at number one or number ten, it still represents one of the better opportunities of the summer for pop culture retailers.  For one thing there is a lot of Kevin Smith and JSBSB-related merchandise available, ranging from Smith's Green Arrow and Daredevil comics, to Graphitti Designs' Jay and Silent Bob Action Figures.  Unfortunately the Bluntman and Chronic action figures that tie in directly to JSBSB won't be available until late in the year because of approval and production problems, but the original Jay and Silent Bob Action Figures are readily available for reorder as is the hugely popular Buddy Christ dashboard figure.  Graphitti also has over two dozen different Jay and Silent Bob t-shirt designs -- designs that are not available in the mass market (for ideas on merchandising apparel, see 'A Retailer Success Story' and 'The Smaller Store').

 

As far as Jay and Silent Bob comic collections are concerned, Image has issued the Chasing Dogma collection, which looks great in full color.  Another trade paperback, Clerks, which is in black-and-white should ship to stores next week, while the Bluntman and Chronic graphic novel is set for a late September release.  The new editions of these collections feature photo covers and should appeal to casual fans who only know the characters from the movies as well as to hardcore Kevin Smith followers.  Retailers who want to take full advantage of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back should also seriously consider carrying both the movie poster and the soundtrack CD, which contains some great jams.