Yup, it looks like Kevin Smith was serious when he said he wanted to do a film based off of the true story of a man who befriended a walrus while stranded on an island, and misses him so much after returning home puts an ad in a paper looking for a roommate who will dress like the animal and play with him. The director recently talked about TUSK in an interview with EW, and revealed that Justin Long will be playing the walrus-man with Michael Parks as the man who places the ad.
It was written for Michael Parks, who I loved in Red State. That was one of the best times I ever had my career, sitting on a set, rolling a camera on a true f–king genius, who is pretending to be somebody else and I forgot who the real guy is because his performance is so good. I wrote the script around him, so it’s nothing but Michael Parks dialogue porn. Justin Long is the guy in the walrus suit. I needed a guy who has expressive eyes because once you’re in that suit, you’re covered. I reached out to Justin and he wrote back and was like, “This is awfully scary but how can we not? Let’s fall down this hole.” So it’ll be Parks versus Long trying to answer the age-old question, “Is man indeed a walrus at heart?” It’s a f–ked up movie, dude.
Kevin Smith originally said he wanted Quentin Tarantino to play Long's part, so I wonder if he actually approached Tarantino for the role or not. Smith also says TUSK will start filming at the end of the October and then he'll be moving on to CLERKS 3:
We start Oct. 21. And I think Tusk will be an ivory bridge, if you will, to Clerks III. I finished up the script [for Clerks] in May or June, but the timetable is pretty tough because the budget is larger. Tusk is a moveable feast at like $2 million and change, so it was way more nimble to put that together. Tusk was just something to do while waiting for news back on Clerks III. Suddenly, people were like, “Really? A human walrus? That sounds f–ked up.” It suddenly took pole position. Then I started going, “Look, I do this, it’s going to make Clerks III even easier to do. I can warm up for Clerks III. It’s been a couple of years. Maybe I need some warmup pitches. But you definitely will see Tusk before you’ll see Clerks III. And if I have my way, you’ll see Tusk up in Sundance in January.
TUSK is certainly the most interesting project Kevin Smith has been attached to in a long time, however films with a f*cked up story can be hit or miss. On paper it sounds a little creepy and hilarious, but if TUSK is going to be a good movie and not just a mediocre one with an odd concept, Smith is going to have to find the right tone and mood for his film.