What is it about the Incredible Hulk that always seems to cause issues? The first movie came out in 2003 directed by Ang Lee and was considered a box-office bust. Why? The style of the movie was considered too slow by most and the fact that your main character of the HULK isn’t seen till over an hour into the film. When he was shown, the CGI made him look as if Shrek and the Jolly Green Giant had a child together. Add to it the very stylized comic book look and feal that Ang Lee gave the movie didn’t sit well with most audiences. For some reason they all wanted the movie to follow the themes set in the TV show from the 70’s and all forgot that there was a comic book prior to that version.
Now we move to 2008 where a newer version of The Hulk will hit movie theaters in June. This movie is being called a “restart” by Marvel Comics as the story follows the flow of the TV show with hints of the comic book thrown in. They even got a more action oriented director in Louis Leterrir (the Transporter movies) and a good set of writers in Zack Penn (Superman Returns) and the star of the movie, Edward Norton.
So where is the touble with this film? The trouble seems to be between Edward Norton, Louis Leterrir and Marvel Comics. Entertainment Weekly had a sitdown with Louis Leterrir where he mentioned that all parties were getting along during the filming of the movie. It wasn’t till the edit proces that issues started to rise. It seems that both Leterrir and Norton wanted a “135 minute more contemplative and richer epic” as to Marvel Comics who wanted a “under 120 minutes and action packed” film.
Do you see where I’m going with this? Marvel wants an action movie featuring one of their toughest characters in comics where the director and star/writer wanted to make it more of a movie like the one in 2003. Needless to say Marvel Comics won the battle but I won’t be surprise if we see two versions of the movie on DVD next Fall - one with the theatrical version and one with the director’s cut.
Adding to the story is that Edward Norton released a statement as he is not granting interviews at this time.
“Every good movie gets forged through collaboration, and different ideas among people who are all committed and respect the validity of each other’s opinions is the heart of filmmaking.
Regrettably, our healthy process, which is and should be a private matter, was misrepresented publicly as a ‘dispute,’ seized on by people looking for a good story, and has been distorted to such a degree that it risks distracting from the film itself, which Marvel, Universal and I refuse to let happen.
It has always been my firm conviction that films should speak for themselves… our focus has always been to deliver the Hulk that people have been waiting for and keep the worldwide love affair with the big green guy going strong.”
Again, the green guy seems to have issues. How will the audience take to the new Hulk? We’ll find out in June.
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