Kevin Smith Says Tusk 2 Will Be Called Tusks, And He's Aiming For A 2024 Release

Kevin Smith has quite a few horror comedies under his belt (alongside the straight-horror banger that is "Red State"), but his most controversial horror outing is easily 2014's Justin Long-starring "Tusk." Long plays podcaster Wallace Bryton, who, in a desperate moment, ends up at the house of the isolated elderly Manitoba man Howard Howe (Michael Parks). Howe has interesting tales to tell, including the story about how a walrus named "Mr. Tusk" saved him from a shipwreck. Bryton falls asleep and wakes to find himself strapped to a table. As Howe explains, his former walrus comrade died long ago, and Howe wants to employ fairly dramatic methods to make Bryton his new friend and ensure that he has a transformative visit in the depths of rural Canada.

The film was a box office bomb with mixed-to-negative critical reception, but it has since grown a significant cult following. In Kevin Smith's podcast "Fatman Beyond," the "Clerks III" filmmaker comments on reports that he's working on a sequel to the infamous horror film. Smith confirms that he's set on a sequel that he currently calls "Tusks" (jokingly stylized "Tusk$"), and that he's aiming for a 2024 release.

In the podcast, Smith first notes his feeling that there was genuine disbelief that he would make a sequel to "Tusk" of all things, "the movie that I made years ago that everybody thought I was bats**t crazy for." That's especially true with "Clerks III" on the way. Why would he consider a "Tusk" sequel?  The answer is simple: His heart attack changed his worldview. "Ever since the heart attack," he explains, "I've been living like on borrowed time, the way I see it. As somebody who's living on borrowed time, I tend to act accordingly." 

Smith had a sequel in mind from the get-go, a mandate that, as he said, "I've got more story to tell." He pictured a sequel where Bryton was saved from his fate at the end of "Tusk" and rehabilitated, but the rehabilitation doesn't take:

"It's like Harvey Dent in 'The Dark Knight Returns,' but he'll only ever see himself one way, and he becomes the Howard Howe. Justin Long becomes the crazy guy trying to turn people into something else, kind of chimera-things, half-human, half-whatever. Last time it was walrus, this time we'll see."

As we approach the 10th anniversary of "Tusk," with Smith's new perspective and the film's gradual reappraisal among horror fans, he summarizes "I would be stupid not to make what I'm calling 'Tusks' and yes, just like when Jim Cameron pitched 'Aliens,' the 'S' has a dollar sign, kids."

Smith added that his next film will be called "The 4:30 Movie" and will be aimed for a 2023 release, and he hopes that will be followed by the 2024 release of "Tusks" to just in time to mark the 10-year anniversary.