This isn't the first official poster for Funny People, but it is our first official look at the marketing campaign for Judd Apatow's third directorial effort. Along with this image, Universal has announced a partnership with MySpace where you can win a walk-on role in the film. What you do is head on over to the flick's official MySpace page, become their friend, and then in 100 words or less leave a comment explaining why you should win the role (maybe you're, like, totally the biggest Apatow junkie on the planet!). Additionally, Judd prepared a special message on YouTube announcing the contest, which you can view after the jump.

Starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman, Funny People focuses on the stand-up comedy circuit and one comedian's near-death experience. It arrives in theaters on July 31, 2009.

Yeah, he's been around the Judd Apatow world for a while now, between Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, but I think it was The 40-Year-Old Virgin that really solidified Seth Rogen's stock. He stole pretty much every scene he was in, and now he's hotter than hot. In a recent discussion with Moviehole, Rogen talked up all those projects we've been hearing about for a while.

At the top of the current buzz is The Pineapple Express, so of course, thoughts are already spinning about a sequel. Rogen mentioned refusing to put a "2" at the end of Superbad, but says of the drug movie: "But this one, it's not a precious coming-of-age story like Superbad, it's a weed action movie and if it did well, and they gave us like $50 million (as opposed to the $26 million we got for this one) we could benefit from that." More Huey Lewis? Sign me up!

As for The Green Hornet, they're currently on the hunt for a director, to start shooting early next year, and to be released in 2010. Funny enough, he also didn't seem to know until he started working on the film that Kevin Smith had taken a stab at the story.

But then there's that untitled project with Judd Apatow, which is now called Funny People. He discussed adding Eric Bana to the mix, which Eugene discussed here. As an added perk -- Cinema Blend got a peek at a small part of the script, if you're curious.

We've talked about the next Judd Apatow-helmed flick, Funny People, and how one of that film's stars, Eric Bana, is not exactly the kind of guy you picture in an Apatow comedy. Especially when his co-stars are people like Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman. You might say, "Is Bana playing the evil villain who never cracks a smile?" And I wouldn't blame you for thinking that, because if you're not from Australia or familiar with Bana's early work, you wouldn't know that he used to be a stand-up comedian and starred in a very popular sketch comedy series called Full Frontal.

So, for some this might be a nice, refreshing blast from the past. For others, well, welcome to the comedic side of Eric Bana. There's a bunch of other Full Frontal clips on YouTube in case you're interested in watching Bana take on the funny.

News has been slooooowly trickling out about Judd Apatow's directorial follow-up to Knocked Up -- or maybe it just seems like it because there's so much curiosity about the project. Back in March we knew literally nothing other than that it would star Seth Rogen, Adam Sandler, and Apatow's wife Leslie Mann. At the start of the month, Rogen and Sandler revealed the movie would be set in "the world of stand-up comedy," and that it would have serious dramatic elements. A few days after that, we heard rumors that Eric Bana was circling a role in the film. Today, Apatow's people officially made public the film's title -- Funny People -- and the rest of the ensemble cast: Eric Bana, Jason Schwartzman and, unsurprisingly, Jonah Hill.

Since people will be doing double-takes when they read "Eric Bana," the Variety article takes pains to point out that Bana began his career in stand-up comedy, and even starred in a pair of sketch comedy series in Australia, before breaking out in Chopper. I had heard that before, but since Bana seemingly hasn't cracked a smile in his entire film career, it remains very weird to me.

No new plot details were revealed, so expect another post in a couple of days when someone decides to let slip another tidbit.