Kevin Smith’s Tusk is the most recent film to prove that critical attention and praise doesn’t always translate to a box office hit. Not like we needed another genius cult classic to go unnoticed by the masses, but still. In an unexpected turn of events, it seems that the buzzy word of mouth and positive fan appeal was all the flick needed.
The flick we’re referring to is Clerks III, which has now secured financiers following the release of the walrus body horror movie. Spun out of one of Smith’s podcasts, Tusk tells the eerie tale of a podcaster who falls prey to an over-enthusiastic walrus lover. Despite a mixed response, the film so far has only netted $1.4 million. Such a meagre sum would normally be the death knell for a director. Not for Smith, though. On his weekly podcast, he told listeners, “Tusk was the absolute bridge to Clerks III. “Because of ‘Tusk’ I got my financing for Clerks III.” He went on to say:
“A year and change ago I was desperately trying to get ‘Clerks III’ made for the 20th anniversary and that desperation — I must have reeked of it because I couldn’t f–king find money and shit,” Smith said during the podcast at the Hollywood Improv. “But it was ‘Tusk,’ people going ‘Holy f–k, what else do you have?’ and I was like ‘Clerks III’ and they’re like ‘done’. So, everybody that’s like, ‘He failed, he failed,’ I’m like ‘Thank you, I failed into doing ‘Clerks III.’”
The third part of his convenience store trilogy has been in the works for a while. Last May Smith took to the web to announce the completion of a first draft. He originally stated it would be his last movie as a filmmaker before he reneged and revealed plans for Comes The Krampus – a Christmas-themed horror he plans to shoot after Clerks III. A Tusk spinoff is also on the cards, entitled Yoga Hosers, which is set to follow Smith and Tusk co-star Johnny Depp’s daughters, who each had a cameo in the movie.
Now that Clerks III has financing, along with distribution from The Weinstein Company who refused to fund it, we can expect news on its pre-production to come flooding in. Critical comment on Tusk referenced Smith’s inability to shake off his pubescent humour, which some reviewers considered a hindrance to the impact of the film’s horror. Now that he’s officially making a return to the View Askew-niverse, we can only hope there’ll be even more.
Are you excited to return to the lives of Dante and Randal for Clerks III? Sound off below!