I don’t get why people are so excited about Rob Zombie’s super-secret project, Tyrannosaurus Rex. It’s not like the guy is this massively successful filmmaker. Sure, he’s brought some cool things to the horror genre, but people have disliked more of his movies than have gone over well, which makes me wonder why everyone is so antsy about his next picture.

Excited or not, Zombie has finally given out some details about the project. While visiting the set of Halloween 2, MTV Movies Blog managed to score some information, and the movie isn’t what you think it is.

Zombie compares the project to a mix of Dustin Hoffman’s Straight Time and Raging Bull, or a more serious version of Every Which Way But Loose… without the orangutan. That’s quite a bit of movie comparisons, so what’s it really about?

“I want to make a serious movie about this washed-up prizefighter who’s got this self-destructive tendency, and he comes out of prison and the only way he knows how to survive is by fighting. Zombie says. ”But his boxing career is over so he gets caught up in this sort of underground fight ring. But it’s all set in the ’70s, so it’s not like an Ultimate Fighting type thing. It’s more like just nasty.”

What any of that has to do with the previously released teaser poster (see image) is beyond me. I think someone just came up with a cool image to sell the movie, regardless of how it actually ties into the planned content.

While Zombie uses lots of movies to describe his picture, he doesn’t use a comic book, clearly stating the movie isn’t an adaptation of The Nail as some people had assumed. “Someone just said that and then everyone believed it. Nah, it has nothing to do with it. But these days nobody wants to make anything that isn’t a remake, a comic book or a sequel. So trying to get anyone to back original material is a nightmare.”