Have you been wondering what happened to Adam Rifkin's caveman comedy Homo Erectus? I've been curious about the fate of the film since it was shot here in Austin back in 2005. Rifkin not only wrote and directed Homo Erectus, but also stars as a "philosophical caveman" yearning for a better life. Other well-known actors appearing in the credits include David Carradine and Talia Shire. (Oh, yeah, and Ron Jeremy.) The film premiered at Slamdance in early 2007, then vanished until last June, when National Lampoon picked up the distribution rights. Now, according to Austin Movie Blog (part of the Austin American-Statesman site), National Lampoon has finally decided to let the rest of us see this movie.

National Lampoon's Homo Erectus, as it seems to now be called, will be released in U.S. theaters in stages starting next month, with a DVD release slated for September. The long wait is definitely ominous ... and the comedies National Lampoon releases these days are generally not known for their subtle innuendos and rapier wit. I can't find a review for this movie online, so if any of you caught the film at Slamdance or elsewhere, what did you think?

Two holdovers outperformed new releases in the indie weekend box office totals, according to estimates compiled by Leonard Klady at Movie City News. Jason Reitman's teen pregnancy comedy Juno grossed $35,500 per screen at 40 engagements in major markets, more than twice as much as Joe Wright's period wartime romance Atonement ($15,720 per screen but at nearly three times the locations: 117).

Both Juno and Atonement will expand to more than 200 theaters this coming Friday, where they'll have to compete with five major releases over the long holiday weekend. Juno will ramp up to more than 850 theaters on Christmas Day and more than 1500 screens on Friday, January 4. Will its reputation as a critical darling keep it rolling along, or will it need more endorsements from teen audiences?

Among new releases, Marc Forster's character drama The Kite Runner did the best, pulling in $14,490 per screen at 35 locations. Cinematical's James Rocchi wrote in his review: "It makes us truly see the people ... in many ways for the first time; that's the film's greatest achievement, and ultimately the best reason to see it." Nanking, a doc about the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, opened in one theater in New York City and earned $6,200. Our own Kim Voynar called it a "deeply affecting film [that] doesn't offer any easy answers."

Adam Rifkin's surveillance camera peek-a-boo project Look got raked over the coals by certain critics -- check out selected quotes gathered by David Hudson at GreenCine Daily -- yet still averaged $5,150 at the two screens where it opened. That means it did better than Francis Ford Coppola's return to the big screen, Youth Without Youth, which managed $4,630 per screen at six locations -- not quite disastrous, but not very encouraging, either. Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote an excellent, measured review, which examines the film in the light of Coppola's entire career.

Any trailer that opens up with a girl taking her clothes off is fine by me. Cinematical has just received the exclusive poster (click on the image for a larger version) and trailer (see video below) for Adam Rifkin's (Detroit Rock City) new drama Look, which has taken the festival circuit by storm -- winning the Grand Jury Prize at CineVegas earlier this year. Capitalizing on the fear that we're always being watched, Look is shot entirely from the point of view of security cameras as it presents to us several interweaving storylines over the course of a random week in a random city.

Here's a bit more from the synopsis, which can be found on the film's official website: "A high school English teacher tries his best to be a decent husband, a department store floor manager uses the warehouse for more than just storage, a Mini-Mart clerk has big dreams, a lawyer struggles with a sexual dilemma and sociopathic brothers ruin the day of random strangers they come in contact with. LOOK tells five private stories which unfold before the prying eye of the covert camera to chilling effect." Fade In magazine has already put Look on its Oscar Watch list, claiming Rifkin deserves nods for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The film is set to open up in limited release on December 14, and it's definitely garnered my interest. (Although I feel bad for the person who has to watch my fat ass undress in The Gap fitting rooms. Talk about losing your lunch ...). Check out the poster above and the trailer below. Enjoy!

National Lampoon is fast becoming a more aggressive brand for theatrical releases. Erik reported in April that the company had bought distribution rights to the "jam band" film Electric Apricot. National Lampoon is also producing its own movies in-house, starting with Bag Boy and recently signing Savage Steve Holland to direct Ratko: The Dictator's Son. Now the company that launched its film reputation with Animal House has signed a distribution deal for Homo Erectus, a comedy starring, written and directed by Adam Rifkin. The film will be retitled National Lampoon's Homo Erectus, which is standard for all the company-branded movies. (In fact, all the films in this paragraph should be prefaced with "National Lampoon's" but that would double the size of the text.)

Homo Erectus is about a "philosophical caveman" (Rifkin, I assume) who tries to impress his girlfriend by inventing useful things like spoons and pants. The film, which premiered at Slamdance earlier this year, also stars David Carradine, Talia Shire and Gary Busey. It was shot in Austin in 2006, and locals who caught a glimpse of the prehistoric sets and costumes during location shooting have wondered when they'd get a chance to see the completed movie. Speculation about distribution arose again last week after learning that Rifkin's latest film, Look, won the Grand Jury Prize at the CineVegas festival. Austinites and everyone else will get to see National Lampoon's Homo Erectus in theaters this September, and National Lampoon also acquired the home-video rights. You can view a trailer for the film online.

Wait, so He-Man is happening? While a big-screen He-Man project has gone back-and-forth a number of times (at one point, both John Woo and M. Night Shyamalan were attached), AICN claims they know exactly what's going on. According to them, Joel Silver has climbed onboard as producer and newbie scribe Justin Marks has been assigned the task of turning in a workable script. Don't know who Justin Marks is? He's the dude that David Goyer's wife discovered, thus landing him the gig writing that SuperMax flick (aka Green Arrow Goes to Prison). Not only that, but he's also attached to write a big-screen version of Voltron (seems someone professed his love for cheesy '80s action icons during one or two pitch meetings.)

If true, this probably means current He-Man scribe Adam Rifkin is no longer involved in the film. So when he said last month that the film was going to get made, he was being truthful -- it's being made, just not with him. It's also important to note that Warner Bros. has taken charge of this monster, which means those rumors about Legendary Pictures being involved weren't so far-fetched. Ah, but what about the one that claimed Brad Pitt's name was circling the starring role? Well, since then his reps have declined knowing anything about it. However, seeing as the studios have been thinking "outside the box" regarding superhero casting as of late (Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Ed Norton as The Hulk), I wouldn't be surprised if Pitt's name shows up again down the line. We need someone who's blonde and hella strong. Who would you choose to play He-Man?

I'm sorry, but you have to hand it to them Brits for taking a fairly bland rumor and adding to it a whole lot of pizazz. According to The Sun Online (which, right there, means take everything I'm about to say with a ginormous grain of salt), Legendary Pictures (the folks behind Batman Begins, Superman Returns and 300, among others) has pulled the big-screen version of He-Man out of development hell. Not only that, but one inside source claims none other than Brad Pitt is front and center on Legendary's wish list. Says the source, "They are very keen on Brad for the role. He'll have to bulk up though -- he's very fit but not to He-Man proportions." Now if that doesn't sound like a quote that was made up on the spot, then perhaps I can convince you that Cinematical's own Erik Davis is also up for the role.

If Pitt decides not to sign on (that would be a shocker), then The Sun claims Legendary might go after a more realistic target -- that being King Leonidas himself, Gerard Butler. Him, I could kind of see. Pitt, on the other hand, is laughable. Back when Fox 2000 was in charge of the property (they have since ditched the dude and handed him back to Mattel), the potential casting list included names like Paul Walker, Triple H and The Rock. If this story is true, and Legendary really is interested in He-Man, then perhaps that list has been chucked in favor of some names that are guaranteed to bring in the dough. No word on whether screenwriter Adam Rifkin is still attached (last month he claimed the film was still going to be made), but I'm fairly certain John Woo no longer wants anything to do with the hunky blonde superhero. However, I wouldn't be surprised if we hear Zack Snyder's name thrown in the hat. Would you dig He-Man if it went the 300 route? Shooting everything in front of a blue/green screen would definitely cut down the budget and probably make the studio feel more secure in giving the go-ahead.

[via Moviehole]

When we last checked in with He-Man, the blonde 80's superhero was hanging on by a thread -- no longer a master of the universe -- but more like a master of development hell. Fox 2000 had assigned screenwriter Adam Rifkin to pen a new draft, John Woo was still attached as a producer and Cinematical's resident geek Mark Beall couldn't care less. Here's a site tip for all you fanboys out there -- if Mark doesn't get excited about a film (and, trust me, 99% of the time this dude is ecstatic about everything and anything, except maybe Ghost Rider), then it's pretty safe to say the project is a dud.

Recently, Moviehole managed to sneak in a phone call with Fox 2000's Rodney Ferrell and -- He-Man fans might want to close their eyes for this one -- he told them the studio had abandoned the film, giving the project back to Mattel. Wait, so does this mean we don't get to see a shirtless Paul Walker or Triple H battle a horrific looking CGI-created version of Skeletor? Would it be wrong for me to call up Mr. Ferrell and tell him his next drink is on me? However (and please note that a gigantic question mark should be wrapped around the following sentence), there's a chance Mattel may still be interested in a He-Man film, and that John Woo could still be involved in some capacity -- but they will have to find someone else stupid enough to help produce and distribute. Man, where's Dolph Lundgren -- I think I need to be hugged.