Cannes: Kevin Smith's 'Anti-Claus' Presells in Key Foreign Markets (Exclusive)
UPDATED: The filmmaker begins shooting the Yuletide horror movie in September.
Kevin Smith's upcoming Yuletide horror movie Anti-Claus has presold to a raft of foreign territories around the globe for XYZ Films, which launched the project at the recent Cannes Film Market.
Anti-Claus reunites the filmmaker with many of his Tusk stars, including Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and Michael Parks.
The film has been snapped up by Premium Films in Russia, Rialto/Vendetta in Australia and New Zealand, Pictureworks in India, Queen in Indonesia, NonStop Entertainment in Scandinavia and Falcon in the Middle East. XYZ is expected to announce additional deals in the coming days.
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Smith dropped hints about the film -- initially titled Comes the Krampus -- earlier this year, saying he would shoot it before Clerks III. WME Global is representing domestic rights.
Jordan Monsanto, Andy McElfresh and Jennifer Schwalbach are producing Anti-Claus for Smith’s SModcast Pictures, with Jason Mewes executive producing. Principal photography is set to begin in September.
Anti-Claus tells the tale of the centuries-old, devillike creature known the world over as the Krampus -- the “Anti-Claus” of Alpine country folklore, infamous for eating naughty children during the season of giving.
Robert Kurtzman, the SFX legend behind the makeup for Tusk, also returns to create the Krampus. Tusk, set for release late this year in theaters around the globe, will be distributed in the U.S. by A24 Films.
