Kevin Smith's Tusk Picked Up By Sony For International Distribution

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has bought Kevin Smith's upcoming monster movie Tusk for distribition in the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Italy, Benelux, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, South Africa, Portugal, Spain and Greece, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Additional territories are expected to be announced soon. Tusk was written by Smith, based on an idea he had during a podcast (this is becoming more common, with his upcoming film Comes the Krampus! and stage musical Helena Handbag having similar roots). Tusk stars Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and Michael Parks. The film is described as a modern-day monster movie that follows a journalist who finds the story of a lifetime in Mr. Howe, a worldwide adventurer with amazing tales and a curious penchant for walruses. Tusk will be Smith's first movie since 2010's Cop Out to receive a wide theatrical release. In the time since,  he's made Red State and Jay and Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie, both of which he took with him on the road, screening them for smaller groups of fans who paid premium ticket prices to gain admission along with Q&A sessions from Smith, cast, crew and mambers of his Smodcast podcasting group. Cop Out was an oddity in Smith's career: it was the first and likely only film he's made that he directed from someone else's script. The last "real Kevin Smith film" to get a wide release was 2008's Zack and Miri Make a Porno. A24 and Demarest Films will handle domestic distribution for Tusk.