Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has picked up director Kevin Smith’s monster pic Tusk for much of world. The deal was struck with XYZ Films.  A24 Films has already scooped up domestic rights, and will release Tusk in theaters this fall.  SPWA has bought Tusk for the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Italy, Benelux, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, South Africa, Portugal, Spain and Greece.

The horror film, Tusk, is currently in production and stars Justin Long as a journalist who finds the story of a lifetime in Mr. Howe (Michael Parks), a worldwide adventurer with amazing tales and a curious penchant for walruses.  XYZ has also executive produced the hit action film The Raid: Redemption, and produced the sequel, The Raid 2, which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. SPWA acquired both films, with Sony Pictures Classics handling the domestic release.

Hopefully, the fact that Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has picked up the rights for much of the world, that will mean that Tusk will receive a wider release and give a mass audience the opportunity to see this strange and odd movie.  I love the fact that Kevin Smith is branching out and making interesting films that don’t rehash his previous, more successful movies.