In March, Fan Cinema Today broke the news that the famed fan film, Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation, was going to make its UK premiere in late April as a charity event in London. The gala evening has now come and gone, but fortunately, it was a massive hit.

Three 12-year-old Mississippi kids spent seven years in the 1980s making a shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’ classic adventure flick—and then they forgot about it. However, recent years have seen it become a true cult phenomenon, gaining them followers as varied as Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth—the latter of whom gave a bootleg of it to Spielberg, who’s also a big fan. Since the film’s rediscovery, they’ve traveled the world presenting it, sold their life rights to Hollywood, written a new feature film, and of course, most prestigious of all, gotten their own chapter in my book, Homemade Hollywood.

Anyway, the UK screening was a big success, as recounted on the awesome food blog, Meemalee’s Kitchen. Chris “Indy” Strompolos and Eric “Belloq” Zala, now grown adults and nice guys, presented the flick and did a Q&A. Also on hand was a real Raider—Paul Freeman, who played “Rene Belloq” in the feature film.

As part of the event, the audience was served tasty Raiders-related treats like snake surprise draped on rocks (vegetarian sushi), steaming sheep’s eyeballs (lychees stuffed with blueberries on dry ice) and chilled monkey brains (thick raspberry compote).

Sounds like it was an awesome night; you can find some funny stories and lots of photos at Meemalee’s Kitchen; even more pics, including the Raiders guys with Freeman himself, can be found on Zimbio.

Slashfilm created a buzz this afternoon with a story that Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation was given a theatrical rating to be shown in the UK, leading to the idea that it will get a widespread theatrical release there.

Turns out that’s not entirely true, but at the least, the famous fan film will make its theatrical debut, complete with a live Q&A with the filmmaking team of Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos.

Here’s the scoop, direct from Zala:

We’re having our UK premiere in London – Tuesday, April 28th at Vue’s flagship cinema in Leister Square, courtesy of sponsor IGN!
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However, to clarify, contrary to the supposition in [Slashfilm], this is not for a theatrical run. Rather, it’ll be a one-night-only event, loaded with extras – official prop raffle, Indy buffet (think chilled monkey brains!), prop display etc. They’re flying Chris & I around the pond for the show and Q&A! Fun times ahead…

If you’re in London, don’t miss seeing the film—it’s a blast (And I might as well add that if you want to find out the full story behind their flick, go by your local library or bookstore and pick up my history of fan films, Homemade Hollywood; it has an entire chapter devoted to their incredible story).

Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos are two of the three guys who famously spent seven years in the 1980s making a shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark. While it’s their biggest claim to fame so far, they’ve spent the last few years writing a new action adventure script, What The River Takes, that they’re shopping around Hollywood. Now Vanity Fair has unveiled a bit of what they have in mind for their next flick.

Strompolis told the magazine’s website:

“It’s a combination of everything Eric and I want to put in this next movie. It’s everything about Mississippi we love-a lot of sensual backdrops and landscapes and cultural nuances-but it’s also pulling from our cinematical love, which of course includes Indiana Jones and classic adventure movies and fantasy. When we set off to write this thing, we used the very standard Joseph Campbell hero-cycle blueprint.”

For more cool art showing what the movie could look like, check out the article.

The Raiders Boys (as they’re often referred to, despite the fact that they’re now in their Thirties) spent their teen years remaking the first Indiana Jones movie; the resulting flick was so cool that Steven Spielberg gave it his blessing when horror meister Eli Roth gave him a bootleg copy years later.

Since then, the trio of fan filmmakers have sold their life stories to mega-producer Scott Rudin for a six-figure sum, and comic book legend Daniel Clowes has written a script all about how they made their impressive indie Indy flick.

And, of course, the greatest honor of all that they’ve received is that they have their own chapter in the upcoming book on the history and future of fan films, Homemade Hollywood (OK, maybe six-figures for your life story is better—it’s almost enough to buy a tank of gas these days).