WHY WE CAN’T WAIT: After Jersey Girl, we want to see Kevin Smith get back to his roots: verbal wit, slacker angst, dense pop cultural allusions, and hilarious raunch.

THE PREMISE: Now in their 30s, Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) are still working dead-end service jobs. But maturity and adult responsibility loom, as Dante is about to move out of state to be with his fiancée.

SOURCE: Smith’s career-launching 1994 film

THE BACKSTORY: Having seen his last movie overshadowed by the tabloid frenzy surrounding stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Smith says: ”I thought, ‘The next movie I want to make, no famous people in it, just actors I love and people I want to work with.”’ However, Weinstein Co. co-chief Harvey Weinstein insisted that Smith hire at least one boldface name, so Rosario Dawson has a prominent role as the boys’ boss, a manager at a fast-food joint.

BURNING QUESTION: Is making a sequel to his signature film a sellout move for Smith or, conversely, a cultish in-joke that won’t be appreciated beyond his fan base?

COME FOR: Smith and his ragtag crew of Jersey smartalecks

STAY FOR: The Hollywood ringers Smith has rounded up, including Dawson and (in a cameo) Smith regular Affleck