Trailer Released for Kevin Smith’s “Tusk,” Starring Rodriguez and Justin Long

Génesis Rodríguez is ready to thrill audiences this September… 

During Friday night’s Comic-Con activities, writer and director Kevin Smith revealed the trailer for his oddball horror thriller Tusk, starring the 26-year-old Venezuelan- and Cuban-American actress.

Haley Joel Osment, Kevin Smith and Genesis Rodriguez, Tusk

“All that separates man from animal… are the stories he tells,” readers the message at the beginning of the film’s first official trailer.

Set in the Canadian wilderness, the film stars Justin Long as a podcaster who’s assigned to interview a mysterious seafarer (portrayed by Michael Parks) who happens to have a strange obsession with walruses.

The idea for the movie came during the recording of SModcast259 The Walrus and The Carpenter. In the episode, Smith and his longtime friend and producer Scott Mosier discussed an article featuring a Gumtree ad where a homeowner was offering a living situation free of charge, if the lodger agrees to dress as a walrus. The discussion went on from there, resulting in almost an hour of the episode being spent on reconstructing and telling a hypothetical story based on the ad. Smith then told his Twitter followers to tweet “#WalrusYes” if they wanted to see their hypothetical turned into a film, or “#WalrusNo” if they didn’t. A big majority of Smith’s followers agreed that the film should be made.

In addition to Long, Parks and Rodríguez, who portrays Allison in the film, Tusk also stars Haley Joel Osment and Johnny Depp.

Tusk is scheduled for release on September 19, 2014, by A24 Films.

Garcia to Star in El Rey’s TV Adaptation of Robert Rodriguez’s “From Dusk Till Dawn”

Jesse Garcia has a new role that will have him working from dusk till dawn

The 31-year-old Mexican American actor is set to star in El Rey’s first original series From Dusk Till Dawn, a 10-episode series based on the cult horror movie by the English-language network’s founder Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

Jesse Garcia

Like the film, the El Rey/FactoryMade-produced series centers on career criminal Seth Gecko (portrayed by D.J. Cotrona) and his older, seriously unstable brother Richie (Zane Holtz).

The roles were played in the film by George Clooney and Tarantino, respectively.

Garcia, tarred in the award-winning film Quinceañera, plays Freddie, a new character created for the series — a Texas Ranger who sets out in pursuit of the infamous Gecko brothers.

Also joining the series in a recurring role is Don Johnson who will take on the role of Sheriff Earl McGraw, played by Michael Parks in the movie.

Rodriguez wrote the series and is directing the first two episodes. He’s executive-producing with Carlos Coto, who serves as showrunner.

Filming has started this week in Austin.