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The quarterly news cycle addressing Hounddog — a/k/a Untitled Dakota Fanning Rape Project — appears to have fired back up again today, when we read that the Southern-Fried Scourge of Sundance '07 will not receive its planned July 15 release after all. Instead, distributor Empire Film Group will unleash the film on Sept. 5 — the dumping ground better known as Labor Day weekend. While we can't wait for Empire's "early-Oscar-season" spin, we're actually far more intrigued by the pledge for Hounddog's eventual home-video eternity:

[Hounddog] will appear in video stores and mass merchants beginning January 20, 2009, and will be supported with national television and radio ads, a consumer sweepstakes and in-store merchandising. ...

Based on media interest in the film, Empire is targeting $15-million in gross box office, which should be matched in video revenues, based on the January campaign. Empire plans to cross-promote Hounddog with two other theatrical titles opening in September and October, for a combined box office goal of $30-million and cumulative video shipments worth $25-million.

Nothing against the gang at Empire, but they're totally fucking high if they think Hounddog has a shot $15 million in theaters and on DVD; said "media interest" comprises some of the worst reviews we've ever seen (ours is among them), and as another blogger notes, its ongoing MPAA rating problems won't help either. On the other hand, we shouldn't underestimate Empire's "consumer sweepstakes," which we hear will borrow a page from the Simpsons playbook by converting a dozen 7-11s across the country to wood-paneled "Hounddog Sex Shacks" — just like the one in the movie — and offering limited-time only giveaways including Raspberry Rape Slushees, No Means Nachos and Spicy All-Beef Penetrators with an all-you-can-eat fixins' bar. Either that or Ed McMahon may have lined up another gig after all.