I've heard more rumors about Idiocracy than any other film this year. The Mike Judge-directed movie had a surprisingly limited release in September -- perhaps because it was considered unmarketable by Fox, or perhaps because Judge and Twentieth Century Fox had a dispute and the release was merely for contractual obligations. No one knows, and Judge isn't talking. And I heard a rumor that the movie might not even get a DVD release, because Fox wanted to wash its hands of the film. I saw the movie twice when it played in Austin, and I thought that it would be stupid not to release the movie on DVD. It's far from perfect, but it's full of enjoyable gags that could lead to a cult following similar to that for Judge's previous film, Office Space.

Perhaps Fox agrees with me, because this morning I found out that Idiocracy is scheduled for a January 9 DVD release. I noticed that the DVD cover art (partially shown above) is very different from the original movie poster from Idiocracy, and I actually find it an improvement. It's probably intended to appeal to the Office Space crowd, especially since the cover also says "From the creator of Office Space, Mike Judge." The DVD looks pretty bare-bones in terms of features: the only listed special feature so far is a set of five deleted scenes. My guess would be that the deleted scenes are the ones that Judge was unable to finish with the necessary special effects because of budget constraints: the scene at the Liberry of Congress, and maybe even the National Fart Museum. Did you really expect a commentary track from Mike Judge, or a featurette on why the movie didn't get a wide release? I feel lucky that we're getting a DVD at all, and thankful that the rest of the country will get a chance to see the movie. Will it tank on DVD, or will Judge fans walk around saying, "Welcome to Costco, I love you!" and making naughty jokes about Starbucks lattes? I'm hoping for the latter.

Wow, this one seemed to have come out of nowhere -- our friend Richard over at Filmstalker reports that Robin Williams just told Edith Bowen from BBC's Radio 1 that he will not be starring in a Mrs. Doubtfire 2. Say what now? But I thought he was already attached -- heck, we all assumed the sequel would be coming out sometime next year. I mean, last we heard from Williams on the subject, he was even talking up a Mrs. Doubtfire 3, claiming there were "plenty of adventures left for her." What in the world happened?

According to Filmstalker, Williams said something along the lines of "if it's not done right, it's not worth doing." But in the same interview, he also noted that the character would come back one day, just not now and not in this form. Well, that's a bummer. Not only for us, but for 20th Century Fox -- the first film grossed a whopping $440 million worldwide -- and so I imagine some peeps were really looking forward to a huge payday from the sequel. Based on Williams' comments, it appears as if Bonnie Hunt's script was not up to par -- perhaps she was going in a direction that Williams didn't feel comfortable with. Regardless, I'm sure a lot of you are upset about this news? Me? I don't care much for Bonnie Hunt or her writing -- yeah, Life with Bonnie wasn't exactly at the top of my "Must Watch TV" list. So maybe this is a good thing. Or bad. You tell me ...

[via Movie Blog]

Last we heard from the Hitman camp (Cinematical Super Tip: Hitman is a successful video game that's being turned into a movie -- imagine that one??), Latino Review had given us a tasty script review based off a version written by Skip Woods (the man responsible for the dismal 2001 pic Swordfish -- which, mind you, was his last produced screenplay.). According to them, the script rocked -- but a lot of folks were concerned about Vin Diesel's casting in the main role. Well, fans of Hitman and Diesel protestors can put down the "Stop Vin Diesel From Playing Agent 47" petition as AICN reports that he's been replaced by Timothy Olyphant. Deadwood! Hooray!

Olyphant is currently starring as the villain in Live Free or Die Hard (aka Die Hard 4) and probably looks better than Diesel would all macked out in that classic Hitman suit. We're not sure why Diesel dropped out (or if he was canned), but does it really matter? The dude is gone, and most of you should be happy about that. Oh, and the news keeps getting better -- apparently, Luc Besson has hopped onboard as producer, and the film could be in theaters as early as next fall ... even though a director still hasn't been announced. C'mon Besson -- screw Arthur and His Invisible Fairytale 2, why not step out of retirement for something that really kicks ass?

Though I have Hitman stuffed somewhere in my dated video game collection, I still haven't played it -- which means I'll need those that have to chime in and tell us whether you feel Olyphant is a better choice over Diesel.

Last month we pointed you towards some footage of Fox Atomic's The Hills Have Eyes 2, and since then we've been treated to an all-new one-sheet (which is pretty cool but nothing too thrilling), but get this: That poster was the second version, one that was slapped together after the MPAA censors refused to approve the initial concept. (I've included a little snip of it on the top-right of this post, but to see the whole thing visit EatMyBrains.com.) And then feel free to compare the first poster with the one that the MPAA censors DID approve. Notice a big difference?

Yeah, the first poster had a human hand hanging out the back of the bag, whereas said hand has been deleted for the censor-approved one-sheet. This teaches us many fascinating things about the MPAA members:

1. They don't like hands.
2. They really have nothing better to do with their time than make stupid and arbitrary decisions about things they couldn't care less about.
3. They're starting to really piss me off, and no, not because of one silly horror poster. Just in general I mean.

Look, it's a horror movie. The hand on the original poster is kinda creepy, whereas the lack of a hand on the censored poster implies, what, that this mutant just might have had to get up early on trash day to lug some garbage down to the corner? Do the oh-so-admirably-concerned censors believe that by removing that hand from the poster they're protecting millions of extra-sensitive children from something?

Or do they just not like/get horror movies, and so they choose to flex their muscle extra hard when the "low-rent genre fare" is concerned? Meh, I know it's such a minor little thing, but I'm known to get irked at tons of minor little things. And here's a question: If this Hills 2 poster was deemed too harsh for multiplex usage, what would the MPAA do with THIS poster if it were submitted today?

Remember when Mel Gibson "re-cut" The Passion of the Christ and released a "kinder, friendlier" version of the flick just over a year after the original cut hit the scene? (And how nobody really cared anymore by that point?) Have you been waiting for the "less gory" Passion to hit DVD? Well, here it comes as part of a 2-disc "definitive edition" that's scheduled to pass the collection plate on January 30.

To be fair, there's nothing even remotely new about all-new Special Editions, and it certainly looks like the impending DVD will be absolutely over-stuffed with supplemental features -- which helps to explain why the original Passion DVD was entirely bereft of extras. Fans of the film will no doubt delight in the FOUR separate audio commentaries (director, production, composer and theologian!), deleted scenes, production galleries, a pair of documentaries and some theatrical trailers. (Visit DVDActive for the cover art and full specs.)

The Passion Re-Cut will also be included on the new release, should you be among those who'd like to witness Christ's final hours without all that hardcore gore and terrible torture. I haven't done the math, but I'm guessing the violence-free version of The Passion should run about ... 49 minutes in length. (In reality the Re-Cut is only about eight minutes shorter.) And before you consider leaving me a nasty message for approaching this movie with such irreverence, have a look at my original review of the film. Yep, I liked it!

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.

Travel advisory: if you ever find yourself walking aimlessly under the snake-dripping treetops of an uncharted Amazonian jungle with no food or water, and the only person who shows up to help you looks like the Brazilian Roy Scheider, fire your travel agent. Turistas, an expensive horror movie from the newly christened Fox Atomic logo, is notable for two things: some impressive natural scenery and for fetishizing something that is normally more of a given in the horror genre -- the white-woman-in-distress motif. The story concerns a ragtag group of 'gringos' -- the word is used about 100 times -- who stray off course during some South American holiday-making and end up in the clutches of a mad surgeon with a colonialism-chip on his shoulder. He intends to remove their vital organs and bundle them off to the black market. Once an unlucky gringo is strapped to the operating gurney, they are forced to simultaneously watch their own evisceration and listen to the doctor's quips, like: "I'd also take the skin from your lily-white ass, but it doesn't travel."

Needless to say, creepiness is the wavelength the film wants to travel on, as opposed to the usual buffet of boo-moments. Fair enough, but aside from those unfortunate transplant sessions, there are only a couple of moments that really deliver on that level. One occurs in the opening moments of the film, when the turistas, who clump together on foot after the tour bus they are all sharing crashes, encounter an unaccompanied Brazilian child in the street. A friendly attempt to snap a photo of the kid nearly sets off an international incident, with the angry parents rushing into the frame, spitting curses and threats in Portuguese. It's a good 'back away slowly' moment. A more serious culture clash comes when the group, led by an Australian beach bunny called Pru (Melissa George) and a sensitive jock called Alex (Josh Duhamel) unwittingly arrive at the jungle home of the evil surgeon. Because they don't speak the lingo, they stand idly by, checking their watches, as the doctor and his henchmen walk around them and between them like incurious sharks, all the while chatting in Portuguese about how they are going to slice and dice them.

The debut film from Fox Atomic, Turistas, opening this Friday, is an action/horror melange about a group of clueless tourists from America, Sweden and Australia who travel off the beaten path during a trip to Brazil and end up in the crosshairs of a human organ smuggling operation. Melissa George stars as Pru, a bikini-clad Australian who speaks some rudimentary Portuguese and becomes the unofficial leader of the desperate band. You're probably familiar with George even if you don't yet know her name. She arrived on the scene in 1998, nearly walking away with Alex Proyas' Dark City in a tiny role as May, a gorgeous prostitute being targeted by a killer. Since then, the Aussie actress has bounced between stints on television shows like Alias and roles in low-expectation films like the Amityville Horror remake. In the past year, however, something has clicked for George and she's lined up several intriguing starring roles.

She's currently shooting 30 Days of Night, a big-budget horror film from producer Sam Raimi about a colony of vampires that tries to take over a small Alaskan town where the sun rarely shines. George co-stars alongside expressionless heartthrob Josh Hartnett as two local cops who try to fight back. Also lined up is the psychological thriller Waz, in which she'll co-star with Stellan Skarsgard, and the period drama Music Within about a disabled Vietnam veteran. Cinematical recently called up George in Los Angeles, hours before she was about to hop a plane back to New Zealand to continue filming 30 Days of Night.

I've heard a lot of people talking about this thriller, Waz, which is coming out sometime next year, but no one seems to know exactly what it's about.

MG: Waz is going to come out around May. It's about altruism in nature and about whether you'd kill someone you love in order to survive yourself. It's a very cool film. In nature, there are some animals who will put themselves on the front line to be killed in order to save their kingdom, because they are the same gene pool. They don't care. They just want to survive. One monkey will go out in front of another and get killed in order to save 300 of them behind him. You know what I mean? Whereas, humans, we're a separate gene pool. So we are exploring the idea that if someone said to you 'I will stop doing this to you if you kill your lover'...how much pain would you take, before you kill somebody that you love? It's very awesome. It's got a genius storyline.

When I hear mention of filmmaker Shawn Levy, the first person I think about is Portland film critic Shawn Levy, who once penned a rather amusing article on how they're not the same person. Beyond that, if I give the phrase "filmmaker Shawn Levy" any additional thought I immediately think of Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Cheaper by the Dozen and The Pink Panther -- and that just makes me appreciate the other Shawn Levy even more because his output is actually pretty funny. (The director Levy also has Night at the Museum coming up, so he's got at least one more shot at making A good movie.)

Ah, but wait. According to Variety, the Hollywood Levy has just signed a pair of deals, one with Universal to helm an adaptation of Alex Williams' The Talent Thief and one with Fox to direct something called Father Figure, which is being described as a drama with comic elements. (Because we all know how adept Shawn Levy is with those "comic elements.") That one scene in Cheaper by the Dozen when all the kids threw food? Masterful.

Levy is also expected to return to direct a Pink Panther sequel, but not until he gets a look at the final script -- which makes one wonder if he also approved the final drafts of Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Cheaper by the Dozen and The Pink Panther.

So basically, one Shawn Levy's career just took a huge leap upwards, while another Shawn Levy's career just got a little bit more difficult.

Are you among the 14 people who actually paid money to see Date Movie? If so, at any point during that movie did you find yourself thinking "Wow, I really hope someone gives these filmmakers money to make another spoof movie!!"? Well, if so then you're an idiot. Because someone did. And now we have something to look forward to called Epic Movie.

Based on this retina-demolishing trailer, Epic Movie looks to be yet another endless collection of movie-related sketch comedy bits. Yeah, just like Date Movie, all four Scary Movie movies, and every Leslie Nielsen "comedy" post-1981. To be fair, writer/directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer spent a good deal of time on their Date Movie audio commentary apologizing for the lame jokes and atrocious filmmaking ... so let's just see if the guys tried a little harder this time out. Sad to say that based solely on the trailer, I'm not exactly holding my breath.

Epic Movie performers include Kal Penn, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge and Crispin Glover as Willy Wonka. Limp-ass parody bits that'd get booed off the stage on free beer open-mike night include swipes at X-Men, Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Chronicles of Narnia, Nacho Libre, Snakes on a Plane ... Borat, and ... um, Paris Hilton. Witty, timely and truly "epic" stuff there, fellas. I can barely wait to see what Friedberg & Seltzer have cooked up for January 2008. After Scary Movie, Date Movie and Epic Movie, I can only assume the next one will be called Crap Movie.

For those who'd like to know when they should avoid the local multiplex as if it were infected with Insta-Deth Ebola, I'll tell you this: Epic Movie opens on January 27th. And if the thing's even half as wretched as the trailer (or, god help us, Date Movie), I think I may pen a strongly-worded letter to Fox and ask where I can get some of whatever they're obviously taking.

When a movie is as awesome, celebrated and profitable as Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs is, it shouldn't come as a shock when the thing gets a "double-dip" on DVD. (Hell, even flicks like American Pie 2 have been re-released on DVD a half-dozen times!) If you're a hardcore fan of the multiple-Oscar winning horror thriller, then you almost certainly own a copy of the DVD already. But which one? Maybe you have the (now out-of-print and rather valuable) Criterion Collection edition, which offers a phenomenal audio commentary but a non-anamorphic transfer), the Image DVD version (bare-bones, bleachy and mercifully out-of-print as well) or MGM's really solid Special Edition from a few years back. (That's the one I own.)

But since MGM recently signed a home video deal with Fox, you can expect a bunch of their high-end A-list titles to get a digital re-issue some time soon. Case in point: On January 27 you'll be able to purchase an all-new Collector's Edition of The Silence of the Lambs, which, don't forget, was the first film to win the "Top 5" Oscars since 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. (The only other film to accomplish this feat was 1934's It Happened One Night.) I remember being absolutely thrilled when Lambs mopped up that Oscar tele-cast, just like I was elated when Sigourney Weaver earned a nomination for her work in Aliens, basically because I like it when horror films are treated like, y'know, legitimate movies.

So yeah: One of the finest and creepiest serial killer thrillers ever made is about to hit DVD for the fourth time. The new 2-disc set looks to be a Lecter fan's new obsession: Three documentaries, several featurettes, 22 deleted scenes, outtakes, trailers, a booklet and some Hannibal Lecter recipe cards. (Yep, recipe cards.) Unfortunately, Criterion still owns the rights to their superlative old commentary track, which means it won't be appearing on this new release. Darnit.

Think of every bad scene from every bad Christmas movie ever made. Now mix them all together however you like and toss them up on a movie screen. The end result, I promise you, will still be a better film than Deck the Halls, an incredible mess of a film starring Matthew Broderick, Danny DeVito, Kristin Davis and Kristin Chenoweth. The four leads all seem vaguely embarrassed to be seen in this film (and they should be), as if they kind of hope you won't notice it's them up there. If I took all twelve days of Christmas, I still couldn't enumerate all the ways in which this is a truly atrocious movie, but I'll do my best to give you a general idea.

A few weeks back we brought the word that Fox Atomic's Revenge of the Nerds remake was hitting some seriously rocky scheduling difficulties on location at Atlanta's Emory University. With the project firmly in limbo, we had no idea if the thing was delayed, on hiatus or downright ash-canned, but now it seems that the latter is indeed the case. To those of you who simply couldn't WAIT to get your paws on the Nerds re-do, I offer my apologies: The remake looks to be dead in the water.

According to THR, Emory University booted the production after only two weeks, reportedly because they didn't appreciate the overtly raunchy nature of the production. (Quick question: Had anyone at the college either read the screenplay ... or seen the original Revenge of the Nerds? Was the college expecting a Disney flick?) So the Atomic folks tried to do some shooting at another school (Agnes Scott College), but the facilities simply weren't expansive enough to pass as a big-time party school.

With the holidays approaching, the production on hold, and all involved parties earning a paycheck, Atomic simply decided to stop the bleeding: Case and crew members have been sent home to enjoy Thanksgiving, and it looks like they'll all have a little unexpected free time for the next several weeks before moving on to projects that don't require the approval of any snippy college administrators.

It appears as if director Peter Weir has come down with a nasty case of "James Cameron disease," as he is in negotiations to once again return to sea for his next pic. If all goes well, Weir will produce and direct Shadow Divers for 20th Century Fox, based on a nonfiction book by Robert Kurson with a much longer title -- Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Discovered Hitler's Lost Sub. Weir's last pic came in 2003 when he helmed Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Partly explained in the book's title, story revolves around two deep-sea wreck divers who risk their lives for six years in an attempt to identify a sunken U-boat that's discovered 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey. Why was Hitler traveling to New Jersey? Well, to take in a scrumptious meal at one of the state's many 24-hour diners, of course. Actually, the plot isn't so much about Hitler as it is about the sailors who lost their lives onboard the ship, as well as these two divers who leave their lives, marriages and friends behind on a hunt for the truth. Bill Broyles (Cast Away) will pen the adaptation, and no cast or production schedule was announced. Currently, Weir is also in development with a film called Pattern Recognition for Warner Bros., though it's not certain which pic the man will direct first.

Unfortunately one of the most popular ways to hype a movie is to release a bunch of clips ahead of time -- but what purpose does that serve, really? All you're doing is spoiling small stretches of the movie for yourself; all the time wondering when "the fridge scene" or "that bit with the poodle" is about to hit the screen. But sometimes, like a little kid who can't wait for his birthday presents, I steal a few glances at the pre-release packages and try to enjoy the goodies. Not long ago we gave you the option to enjoy five isolated scenes from the Korean monster mash known as The Host, and today Fox Atomic has delivered a whole bunch of Turistas treats to all the coolest horror sites.

Turistas, for those who don't regularly read my horror-obsessed babblings, is about a group of VERY beautiful young adults who run afoul of something VERY unpleasant while enjoying the hedonistic pleasures of Brazil -- and I'm going out on a limb when I surmise that some of these hotties won't be heading home after the holiday. Directed by John Stockwell and written by first-timer Michael Ross, Turistas counts among its lovelies Olivia Wilde, Melissa George and Beau Garrett. Oh, and some male actors too.

Anyway, head on over to Arrowhead's if you want to pick through all sorts of EPK goodness from Turistas: Two trailers, five movie clips and more than a half-dozen interview-style soundbites ... all of which exist to convince YOU that Turistas is worthy of your ten-dollar investment come December 1. So far it looks like something the horror-hounds will devour ... but we've all thought that sort of thing before, now haven't we?