The Incredible Hulk

[cron]

i was not a fan of ang lee's hulk, and at this moment i'm not a fan of marvel stories.  But isn't the marvel universe big enough to adapt anything else?    it's gonna be very embarassing for humanity when all the good reviews for this movie start coming and the critics say that they 'finally got it right' with this movie,  that it was 'worth the wait', the smartest blockbuster of the summer.
it might be a bearable movie. but the idea behind it is feels so evil and repugnant , i don't think i'll ever pay to see it.

[MacGuffin]

Ultimately, though, the stars said the film will be quite different than the Bill Bixby show — and a first-ever photo of the newer, darker, more furious-looking Hulk seemed to agree.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=15YeV8QNPFM

[MacGuffin]

Norton shows muscle on 'Hulk'
Source: Los Angeles Times

A few weeks ago, a minor controversy sprung out of Marvel's "Incredible Hulk" panel at Comic-Con that had a lot of fans both scratching their heads and pointing their fingers. And no, it wasn't griping about Liv Tyler being cast as Betty Ross or fears that the Hulk was going to CGI-fly again. As with most mini-scandals, it turns out to have been both more and less than it first appeared to be.

When it was revealed that Edward Norton, who had been cast as the scientist-gone-green Bruce Banner, had also written the script, it surprised and confused a lot of folks who thought that Zak Penn had written the screenplay. Penn, who has worked on half a dozen Marvel movies, including the last two "X-Men" installments, "Elektra" and, as one of his first Marvel assignments a dozen years ago, what eventually became the first, Ang Lee-directed "Hulk," had actually spent a year writing the screenplay before Norton became involved.

At first blush, it looked like just another case of a screenwriter getting disrespected while a movie star with a reputation for aggressive involvement in scripts had bullied his way into writing this one.

"Both panels were excellent for Marvel Studios," says Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige, who was also there presenting "Iron Man." "I think the only bit of bungling on my part was not clarifying Zak's role up there in front of 7,000 people, which I then tried to clarify in some round tables I did 20 minutes later after the 'Iron Man' panel."

Of course, nothing prevented Norton from speaking up about Penn, and it didn't help that the actor, by many accounts a very smart guy (and a closet comic book geek), had long since acquired a reputation for stepping on writers' toes when it came to script revisions.

Widely credited with doing substantial uncredited work on "Frida" for then-girlfriend Salma Hayek (who was the film's producer and star), Norton had also shown up on the set of "Red Dragon," for example, with new script pages not only for his character but for Dr. Hannibal Lecter as well. Other people on the film describe director Brett Ratner fighting with Norton over the issue, and Anthony Hopkins reportedly expressed his comfort with speaking the original lines written by Ted Tally, an Oscar winner for his adaptation of "Silence of the Lambs." (Norton's publicist maintains that Ratner asked him to write new pages.)

In the case of "Hulk," after another writer's treatment was declined in early 2006, Marvel hired Penn, who wrote three drafts over a year. By spring 2007, Penn was about to go off to promote his movie "The Grand," but the studio and the director, Louis Leterrier ("The Transporter"), still felt that the screenplay needed work.

When Norton came in to meet about starring as Banner in April, the film had already been greenlighted and there were just three months before shooting was scheduled to begin, just after Independence Day. But Norton had well-established (if underground) writing experience and strong ideas about how to separate the film from any confusion over its connection to the 2003 Ang Lee version by casting it in a more distinct, starting-over vein like "Batman Begins" or "Casino Royale."

So Norton's initial deal included payment not just for his acting services but for his writing talents too, with his draft contractually stipulated to be turned around in less than a month. As it turned out, Norton delayed work on another screenplay job to do "Hulk," and he continues to tweak the script as principal photography hits its halfway point outside Toronto.

Meanwhile, Penn is writing a big-budget version of "The Avengers" and yet another potential "X-Men" spinoff.

As for Norton's writing services, now that he's finally gone "legit" as a paid double threat, other filmmakers may come calling. "Yes, he is that good a writer that I would definitely work with him on another movie that he wasn't starring in," says Feige.

[MacGuffin]

'HULK' DIRECTOR SPEAKS
In an exclusive interview, director Louis Leterrier discusses Ang Lee's film and why he chose the villains he did for 2008's 'Incredible Hulk'
Source: Wizard Magazine

Best known for street-level martial arts flicks such as "The Transporter" and "Unleashed," director Louis Leterrier gamma-irradiates the big screen on June 13, 2008, with the release of "Incredible Hulk." Starring (and written by) Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, the titular alter ego of the Green Goliath, along with Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, "Incredible Hulk" acts as a fresh start for the monstrous hero from Marvel Studios after director Ang Lee took a stab at the franchise in 2003.

"It's a fresh start because I saw there is a real fan base for Ang Lee's movie," said Leterrier of Lee's ill-received "Hulk" in an exclusive interview with Wizard. "I didn't want to offend [those fans] in any way, and also I like the movie. It was very interesting. [But] it was weaker ground to build a big franchise upon so we decided to scrap it and establish it from bases that are more comic book-based and TV show-based."

"Incredible Hulk" will still feature several elements from the Ang Lee film such as General "Thunderbolt" Ross (played by William Hurt) and his hunt for Banner. But the development of other antagonists takes place in the film, as well. Heading for those comic book roots, Leterrier pit Hulk against someone very familiar to comic book fans.

"Obviously, General Ross is the villain, so he had to be in it," added Leterrier. "But the Abomination, Emil Blonsky, was who Marvel wanted to put in this chapter—the first chapter of our new saga—because he's the most famous. He's an enemy that can actually threaten the Hulk. It's very important for me that there is a danger. When Bruce Banner is Hulk, I didn't feel in Ang Lee's 'Hulk' that there was any threat. He was invincible. So with Abomination there's actually a monster that can, you know, kill him when he's in the Hulk form."

Played in human form by Tim Roth, Blonsky isn't the only new character. Look for Doc Samson (played by Ty Burrell) and Samuel "the Leader" Sterns (played by Tim Blake Nelson) when the film powerbombs into theaters next summer.

[MacGuffin]

First Images from The Incredible Hulk!
Source: Cinematical

Universal has released the first official images from this summer's The Incredible Hulk as part of their 2008 film preview. Though we don't yet get to see Edward Norton's transformation from Bruce Banner into that big green dude (I imagine they're saving that one for the trailer), we do get to see these two shots of Norton as Banner dealing with this whole gamma radiation issue. Here's the caption that goes along with both of these photos: "EDWARD NORTON stars in this new beginning as Bruce Banner, a scientist desperately hunting for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of rage within him-THE INCREDIBLE HULK." The film hits theaters on June 13, and is rumored to be debuting its first trailer during the Superbowl.

[Pozer]

all i can say at this point is

i love paul dano's ed norton's chin hair... i really did do love dano's norton's chin hair though. 

[MacGuffin]

Trailer Preview

[JG]

oh my god trailer trailers.

[MacGuffin]

Ed Norton And Marvel In 'Hulk'-ing Feud
Source: Deadline Hollywood

The Incredible Hulk trailer is on its way. It debuts Wednesday night at 9:56 pm on all the MTV channels and Spike TV and VH1. It gets shown Thursday at ShoWest. And it plays this weekend in front of Universal pics in the theaters. (But it's also being teased on YouTube now.) I'm told the pic's producer-screenwriter-star Edward Norton helped get the trailer ready last week and loves it.

But does he also love the movie? Not yet.

I'm told that's because Norton and Marvel are clashing over how to cut the pic. Insiders say Norton was "promised tremendous involvement and access" after Marvel invited him into the core team to rewrite Zak Penn's script. Says one insider, "There's a lot of posturing going on between Edward's camp and Marvel over how you edit the final version." Sources also tell me that, starting last night and continuing at least throughout today, the actor will be holed up with Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel, Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige, and director Louis Leterrier to try to "reach an amicable resolution" to this $150+ million film feud.

Some insiders blame Marvel for not accepting Norton's POV about the movie. "There's a problem. Marvel won't listen to Norton about the cut," one source claims. Some blame Norton, known to be prickly. (Remember his problems with Paramount over The Italian Job and with director Tony Kaye over American History X?) "Never let an actor write a script," one insider commented. "Marvel made a mistake letting the wolf into the hen house."

But I say that, after Ang Lee's troubled The Hulk left audiences cold, The Incredible Hulk needs Edward Norton's warm support if the pic's gonna have any street cred. Some fear things blowing up to the point where Norton might not publicize the movie. And Marvel is petrified that the new Hulk may be judged "prematurely and unfairly." (Or that bloggers will start claiming the Hulk franchise is cursed.)

Right now, Marvel is said to be about 4 to 5 weeks away from locking the movie for its June 13th release by Universal whose top execs haven't yet seen it ("though some marketing guys have been working off a rough cut that's in pretty good shape," I'm told). "At this stage you always have discussions about what's in the film and what's not going to be in the film. Everyone's very passionate, and Edward is very opinionated." Said another source, "There is a very healthy exchange of ideas going on. Discussions now are even more heated. But some of Ed's best movies have had this exact dynamic to them. Everyone's in the process of figuring it out and working it out. But I expect it'll all get resolved pretty quickly."

[Sleepless]

The Hulk franchise is cursed.

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

[john]

I trust Norton enough to believe there's a great film to display here. But, judging by this preview... this ain't it.

Maybe I was expecting too much.

[Pozer]

stupid.

[MacGuffin]

New Trailer here.

[picolas]

that was just like the evan almighty trailer. dumb and showed you everything that happens in chronological order.