Before I get into my real coverage of Kevin Smith's appearance at the 2006 Wonder Con in San Francisco can I just say how excited I am about ?Clerks 2?? I was only mildly hyped about Kevin Smith?s ?Clerks? follow-up until I saw the clip Smith put together for the 2006 Wonder Con in San Francisco. Now ?Clerks 2? is on my list of 10 movies I have to see this year. I kid you not. ?Clerks 2? looks that funny.

If you haven?t seen Smith on stage responding to questions that would throw most filmmakers for a loop, you?re really missing out on an engaging show. The man knows how to work an audience. Granted, he?s fond of using words which force those of us who have to keep things PG-rated to bleep out much of what?s said, but that?s just the way he is. You either accept it or you can get up and leave. It?s as simple as that. There?s nothing fake or Hollywood-ish about the way he interacts with his fans.

Here?s a recap of some of the highlights from the Q&A session at Wonder Con, followed by a brief one-on-one interview with the filmmaker after he finished up his panel at the San Francisco comic book convention:

The Status of ?Fletch:? Smith said he?s parted ways with ?Fletch.? ?After five, six years of trying to get Jason Lee cast it was just apparent that it wasn?t going to happen,? said Smith. ?I thought this year might be the one that tipped the scales because he?s in ?My Name is Earl? and on every f**king billboard ? on billboards all over the f**king country and s**t.

For years I kept saying Jason Lee is Fletch and Harvey [Weinstein] kept saying no. And then finally, ?Jason Lee is Fletch ? My Name is Earl,? and he was just like, ?No, it?s still not going to happen.? Harvey has his heart set on Zach Braff, who?s a guy I really like but the version of ?Fletch 1? that I wanted to make was Jason Lee. So without him my passion, my enthusiasm for the project kind of dwindled.?

What?s Happening with ?Green Hornet:? ??Green Hornet? was a movie that two years ago they hired me to write and direct. And then as I started writing it I was like, ?I can not direct an action movie. I have no idea how to do it. I?m not good at it and I don?t have patience.?

My version of it would be like the Green Hornet and Kato leaning against the Black Beauty. You know, the amazing super car rolling arsenal that could do almost anything and they?re just leaning against it talking about sex. ?Did you get laid last night?? ?Yeah, in the mask.? Then Kato?s like, ?I think there?s some trouble over there.? And the Green Hornet?s like, ?Let?s check it out.? Then they both just walk off camera and we still hold on the car. And from off camera you just hear [fighting sounds]. Then they walk back in, brush themselves off, and, ?So, did you f**k her in the a** or what?? Nobody wants to entrust you with $70 million to make that kind of superhero movie. So I realized like, ?I?m so not the guy.? But I did write the script and turned it in. I was really happy with the script. I don?t know where it is right now.?

Kevin Smith on Test Screenings and ?Jersey Girl:? Smith said they tested ?Jersey Girl? in Jersey where he had high hopes for the film. ??Jersey Girl? in Jersey? We?re going to score 4,000 out of a possible 100 because what could be better than a test screening in Jersey. Jersey turned on me and s**t.?

Throughout the test screening process, Smith?s movie went through eight or ten different versions based on the response from audiences. Smith told the Wonder Con attendees, ?On ?Jersey Girl? it was really, really difficult. We went through so many different cuts and you realize that you?re just making them to please the last test audience that you showed. Then you?d show it again to the next test audience and they?d come up with different problems all together. The only one problem uniform across the boards, no matter where we were in the country, the one thing that everyone agreed to was like, ?F**k Jennifer Lopez.? No matter where you go people would be like, ?F**k J-Lo. Take her out of the movie.? We?re like, ?We tried? She dies pretty early.? ?Not soon enough!??

Page 2:"Clerks 2" Video Clip, Internet Rumors, and Jason Lee