Kevin Smith has been teasing and talking about planning to make Clerks III for over a year at this point, but it was not until this week that the man behind the View Askew universe offered any hard evidence (outside his own tweets) that the film was moving forward.

Speaking to a packed house during a recent recording of his Hollywood Babble-On podcast, Kevin Smith revealed that he was finally able to secure the financing needed to make Clerks III a reality. It seems the film was only made possible by the fact Smith chose to first make his latest release, Tusk. As Smith explained:

“Tusk was the absolute bridge to Clerks III,” says Smith. “Because of Tusk, I got my financing for Clerks III. A year and change ago I was desperately trying to get Clerks III made for the 20th anniversary… I must have reeked of [desperation], because I couldn’t fucking find money and shit. But it was Tusk, with people going ‘Holy fuck, what else do you have?’ I was like, Clerks III and they’re like. ‘Done!’ Everybody that’s like, ‘He failed, he failed!’ I’m like, ‘Thank you, I failed into Clerks III!”

Tusk opened in 600 theaters, but only managed to make a little over $800,000 during its first weekend. The film has since accumulated $1.4 million at the domestic box office, with many foreign territories still awaiting release.

In our review of Tusk, editor James Shotwell summarized his thoughts with:

In a time where it seems every horror film either involves a house full of ghosts or CGI monsters, Kevin Smith has given us a reason to care about body horror once again. Even better, he’s done it using practical effects, great acting, and a budget small enough to remind everyone that anyone with an idea can make a good looking film.

Smith is currently working on a new film, Yoga Hosers, which is scheduled for release sometime in 2015. Production on Clerks III is expected to begin by 2016, but may be put on hold while Smith finishes his ‘true north’ trilogy with the Yoga Hoser follow-up, Moose Jaws (which is pretty much Jaws with a moose). We’ll bring you more information on the filmmaker’s plans as soon as additional information becomes available.

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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