Longtime film aficionado (and sometimes filmmaker) Kevin Smith revealed on Twitter Thursday that A24 will release his horror thriller Tusk on Sept. 19, 2014. He also announced on the social media site that the trailer for his latest will premiere at his Comic-Con panel on July 25, one endearingly titled “The Musk of Tusk: An Evening with Kevin Smith.” Two of the film’s stars, Genesis Rodriguez and Haley Joel Osment, will be present in Hall H next Friday, as well.
The thriller originated from an idea on the writer/director’s SModcast podcasts. Smith and producing pal Scott Mosier talked about a situation where a homeowner could live in a place free of charge if he or she agreed to dress as a walrus. Smith asked his Twitter followers to tweet “#WalrusYes” if this had potential to become a feature film. Alas, based on the movie’s title and teaser poster (below), it seems that the walrus is indeed a special part of Smith’s latest.
Tusk stars Justin Long as podcaster Wallace Bryton, who heads into the backwoods of Manitoba to interview a mysterious adventurer, Howard Howe (Michael Parks), and then goes missing. Bryton’s pals, played by Rodriguez and Osment, then begin a search for Bryton, who may or may not be donning a walrus costume. Meanwhile, Johnny Depp appears in a small role, as a French-Canadian cop in pursuit of the monster-maker. While Depp seems like an inspired if bizarre choice to speak with a Québécois accent, the part was originally offered to Quentin Tarantino, who passed on the role.
Smith’s creepy and quirky story has already received much buzz from the director’s fans. Although Tusk was originally planned to debut at Sundance earlier this year, audiences should be relieved that they do not have to wait much longer for the final cut.
Stay tuned for a trailer from Hall H and just try getting that Fleetwood Mac song out of your head as you wait for the first footage.
