You might think Kevin Smith would be disappointed with the reception to his latest film, Tusk. But it looks as though it’s led to his most anticipated project yet – Clerks III.
Speaking about the experience during a live recording of his podcast Hollywood Babble-On, it looks as though the legendary loudmouth thinks that ‘Tusk’ flopping at the box office might be a blessing in disguise.
“Everybody that’s like, ‘He failed, he failed,’ I’m like, ‘Thank you — I failed into Clerks III’.”
Smith’s bizarre horror/comedy Tusk tells the story of a young podcaster on the search for weird and wonderful stories… and when he meets a salty old sea dog with some mighty tall tales, it’s just too much to resist. Little does he know that the old sailor has a bit of a fetish for Walruses. And that’s where it all begins.
Based on an absurd craigslist advert, Tusk was a pretty thin concept to begin with. But with critical and box office reception proving to be pretty harsh, it seems that Smith’s investors are forced to turn to his other projects. At least, that’s what he claims.
“The director announced that he has finally secured funding to make Clerks III,” said The Hollywood Reporter. “He explained that the opportunity to make the movie came after investors were impressed by his recent horror-comedy Tusk, despite its ho-hum box-office gross thus far.”
But it’s a far cry from Kevin’s previous efforts to get Clerks III off the ground… after all, it’s a project he’s been sitting on for quite some time.
“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 fucking find money and shit,” Smith said. “But it was Tusk, people going, ‘Holy fuck, what else do you have?’ And I was like ‘Clerks III’ and they’re like ‘done’.”
Clerks III will follow on from the earlier, 2006 sequel, Clerks II. But can it recapture the originality of the first movie? Will it even match the second? For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
But at least it’ll be better than Tusk.
What do you think of Kevin Smith’s comments? Are you excited for another Clerks sequel? Let us know what you think in the comments below…
