Berlin: Sony Snaps Up Kevin Smith's 'Tusk' for Much of the World (Exclusive)

Smith addresses fans at last year's Comic-Con convention. Through his View Askew Productions Web site , a Twitter feed followed by 1.7 million fans, appearances on talk shows and lectures to sold-out audiences, Smith has offered his personal take on life and moviemaking, discussing everything from private Hollywood pitch meetings to the sometimes intimate details of his marriage.

UPDATED: So far, the studio has bought the modern-day monster pic for the U.K., Canada, Latin America and Australia, among numerous other markets.

BERLIN – Marking the biggest Hollywood studio deal so far at Berlin's film market, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has snapped up director Kevin Smith's modern-day monster pic Tusk for much of world. The deal was struck with XYZ Films.

A24 Films had 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. Additional territories are yet to be announced.

STORY: A24, Demarest Films Pick Up Kevin Smith's Monster Movie 'Tusk'

Tusk, also written by Smith and born out of one of his immensely popular SModcasts, stars Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and Michael Parks. The horror film, currently in production, stars Long as a journalist who finds the story of a lifetime in Mr. Howe (Parks), a worldwide adventurer with amazing tales and a curious penchant for walruses.

Demarest Films, whose credits include A Most Wanted Man, financed and produced Tusk in partnership with New York-based distributor A24. XYZ handles international sales and introduced the project this week to foreign buyers at the European Film Market.

Producers are Sam Englebardt, William D. Johnson and David Greathouse for Demarest and Shannon McIntosh for Smith’s SModcast Pictures banner. Jennifer Schwalbach and XYZ's Nate Bolotin are executive producers.



XYZ executive produced the hit action film The Raid: Redemption, and produced the sequel, The Raid 2, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last month. SPWA acquired both films, with Sony Pictures Classics handling the domestic release.

XYZ is selling two other Sundance titles at Berlin, Life After Birth and Killers.