Kevin Smith’s newest film The 4:30 Movie was acquired by Saban Films for worldwide distribution, marking it as his second collaboration with the studio since the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. For this feature, Smith explored his childhood as a movie fan in the 80’s.

Shot at his New Jersey childhood theater Smodcastle Cinemas, which he currently co-owns, the film follows a trio of teen friends that hang out every Saturday to sneak into different films. However, things quickly change when one of the friends invites his crush to their outings. With this new team member, the friends must “learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll.”

According to Smith, this film was meant to be a personal story that would call back to his adolescence where he endured the peaks and pitfalls of young, immature love. To him, The 4:30 Movie speaks to “the pre-information generation who grew up without the Internet, when romance and relationships required much more than a swipe to get started, and the idea of asking out someone you had a crush on was as terrifying as the looming threat of nuclear war.”

Smith expressed excitement about being able to shoot in the theater where he spent his time as a teenager. He half-jokingly stated that the theater would help him reclaim his past while providing “a visually interesting and cost-free movie location” for his project.

Saban Film’s Chief Content Officer Jonathan Saba concurred with Smith and expressed his eagerness to collaborate with the filmmaker again. In an interview, Saba called Smith “one of the defining voices in American Independent Cinema for 30 years now.” To him, The 4:30 Movie “is like a Valentine to moviegoers from a lifelong film fan.”

The 4:30 Movie’s official release dates have yet to be announced, but Smith has planned a summer multi-city national tour before following it with international distribution.