Gawker: defamer, hulk

Bad Math and Short Memories Spin Wacky 'Hulk' Hate-In

STV — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:35:00 EDT

Two percent doesn't sound like much of a quantity on its face, but it's apparently more than enough room for studio execs to rejoice after recent box-office scans reveal this year's grosses are slightly up from those of Summer 2007. Observers attribute part of the bump to "better-than-expected" openings for films like Kung-Fu Panda, Sex and the City, The Happening and The Incredible Hulk, with the latter film's $55 million opening rounding out Marvel Studios' blockbuster tandem with Iron Man.

Naturally Marvel boss David Maisel will be doing victory laps for rest of the season, but after the jump, join us in parsing a bizarre contrarian argument gaining traction against the studio's acknowledged re-do of Ang Lee's brooding 2003 Hulk. Hint: It's bullshit.

You can start to see it in the raw numbers put out today at Box Office Mojo, where a comparison of Hulk '03 and Hulk '08 indicates the latter film underperformed its predecessor by $7 million after five days in release. The inference — intentional or not — is that after all that Marvel did to disown the first Hulk, the second couldn't even keep up. Such hubris, right? Such a letdown! At least that's the read laid forth in a more explicit crack analysis at The Playlist:

Ed Norton's The Incredible Hulk (notice no director mentioned here), was [an] enjoyable action-packed flick, that has been a smashing success, toppling the box-office this weekend and erasing the memory of Marvel's original embarrassment, right?

Not quite. The Incredible Hulk, directed by Louis Leterrier, opened this weekend with a winning $55.4 million, but it was well off the opening of Ang Lee/ Eric Bana's 2003 version of the green monster film which opened five years ago to a substantially larger $62.1 million. Marvel is calling this new version an unqualified success, but of course you're not reading this truer story everywhere (of course its the Aussie press have to make a note of pointing this out, not in the name of fairness of course, but because Bana is Australian).

You're likely to hear more of this crap as the trades latch on in the weeks ahead, but pray along with us for a moment that the big green apples and oranges are seen for what they are. To wit, Hulk '03 opened with high expectations opposite a shitty rom-com (Alex and Emma) and the self-immolating From Justin to Kelly; the summer releases that preceded it — X-Men 2, The Matrix Reloaded, Bruce Almighty — had far less legs than Hulk '08's competition from its own studio, let alone Indiana Jones 4 and Kung-Fu Panda. Mix in The Happening, which pulled away at least $5 or $6 million, and you've got a reasonably well-performing franchise opener.

It's really pretty simple, and we wouldn't recommend relating its trajectory to that of Lee's film in polite, sentient company. Was it an "unqualified success" or the blockbuster that Marvel wanted? Of course not. But in the clogged-up context of Summer '08, it's a good showing for a decent film nobody should be ashamed of — stroppy star and, ahem, "Aussie press" be damned.

'Hulk' vs. 'Hulk' [Box Office Mojo]

A Bigger, Badder 'Hulk' Tops The Box-Office? Not So Fast... [The Playlist]

Creative 'Hulk' Differences Make Norton Smash! Norton Crash! Norton Bash!

Seth — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:10:18 EDT

Few came away from Ang Lee's vision of Hulk—about two freakishly massive, green cowboys who smash boulders and each others' hearts on the open Wyoming plain—feeling the director had really done the Marvel source material justice. So it was with a measure of relief that Ed Norton announced he would be sweeping in to reclaim the franchise, with a bold re-envisioning of the beloved tale of Dr. Banner and his rageoholic, gamma-bomb-enhanced Mr. Hyde. Now, reports Deadline Hollywood Daily, the legendarily exacting Norton has been locking horns with the Marvel Studios brass over final cut:

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.

We're confident that whatever discrepancies of vision have arisen between Norton and representatives from the Guild of Nervous Comic Book Rights Holders Hoping Their Valuable Franchise Isn't Mucked Again Up by Some Artsy-Fartsy Cinematic Visionary will soon be resolved, and that fanboys hungry for some Hulk redemption will soon be emerging from theaters, heartily agreeing that, "Well, he's no Ferrigno, but at least he was better than that Eric Bana-on-CGI-steroids crap."

Ed Norton And Marvel In 'Hulk'-ing Feud [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

'The Jetsons' One Step Closer To Becoming Ill-Advised, Live-Action Motion Picture

Mark — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:54:19 EDT

· The Weinstein Co. (with help from their besties at Lionsgate) will release Michael Moore's documentary Sicko on July 29th, which should do for America's health care system what Bowling for Columbine did for a senile-seeming, rifle-loving Charlton Heston. [Variety]
· Hollywood Out Of Ideas, Even In The Prehistoric Past And Distant Future Edition: Robert Rodriguez is in talks to direct a live-action feature adaptation of The Jetsons, and has also met with Universal about Will Ferrell's adaptation of Land of the Lost. [THR]
· Universal lands its second Serious Actor for its The Incredible Hulk project, as Tim Roth is in negotiations to play Hulk antagonist Abomination and spend long hours discussing how best to portray the emotional torment of gamma-wave-poisoning sufferers in the context of a superhero film. [Variety]
· FX may pay up to $40 million for the TV rights to Spider-Man 3 for five years, but only once it completes it pay-cable run on Starz. [THR]
· Var TV critic and Entourage nemesis Brian Lowry is amused that his HBO stand-in, who'll be harassed by an aggrieved Johnny Drama in an upcomnig episode shot in the paper's offices, has an assistant. [Variety]

Spiderfevermania!

Mark — Fri, 04 May 2007 16:00:12 EDT

· Here's comes Spider-Man 3! But how much will it make on its domestic opening weekend, after breaking records in 10 of the 16 territories in which it's already playing? Experts agree: a fucking shitload. [[Variety]
· But! Is THR playing the hype card? We're reminded that the beginning of the summer blockbuster season is always accompanied by the loss of "all sense of perspective." Whatever. This movie's doing $400 million in three days, we can feel it. [THR]
· Reese Witherspoon's Type A Films is developing an adaptation of Rebecca Godfrey's Under the Bridge, the "true-crime account of a brutal high school murder." With no superhero angle to speak of and no prospects of breaking Pirates 2's box office record, why are we wasting time on this? Our theory: Witherspoon is in talks to play Mary Jane in Spidey-4. [Variety]
· Liv Tyler will star opposite Edward Norton in next summer's The Incredible Hulk. Opening weekend prediction: a disappointing $37 million. Hey, no Spider-Man cameo. [THR]
· Thursday night's special, two-hour, spinoff-introducing Grey's Anatomy holds the show's usual viewership, so get ready to enjoy Dr. Addison's romantic misadventures on a weekly basis this Fall. (Did we really hear Tim Daly say, "I'm going to kiss you with tongue?" Maybe they're saving the snappier, "I'm going to place my penis inside you. Then move it around" banter for the actual series.) [Variety]

Hulk Smash...Car Into Tree! Eric Bana Crunches 1974 Ford XB Coupe In Aussie Rally

Ray Wert — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:23:14 EDT

The Aussie actor who's played a prince o' Troy as well as a brisket-eating assassin spent the weekend filled with rage. The rally-loving actor smashed his hoon-tastic Mad Max-like 1974 Ford XB Coupe (yes, I know the Mad Max one was a '73 — thus the word "like") into some trees during the Targa Tasmania rally. According to the AP the crash took a toll on the steering and suspension systems and forced ~~Banner~~ Bana to withdraw from the competition. We also hear he was angry. We've also been told that you wouldn't like him when he's angry. – Ray Wert

Eric Bana crashes in Australian rally [AP]

Short Ends: You Wouldn't Like Him When He's Angry

Mark — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:55:52 EDT

· When a reader goes through the trouble of spending hours tinkering around in MS Paint to create a fan-art masterpiece , we have no choice but to share it with you. Behold, the Incredible Norton. (Click the photo for a larger version.)
· If you watch just one video of Britney Spears amusing herself by babbling semi-coherently about the tabloid media that's ruining her life into a paparazzi agency's video camera, make it this one.
· And also: Is Britney more charitable than a certain A-list golden boy?
· Kiefer Sutherland savagely bites Forest Whitaker in a Walk of Fame sneak attack!

Edward Norton To Spend Three Months Of 'Research' Covered In Green Body Paint And Grunting In Front Of A Mirror

Mark — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:18:52 EDT

In what is easily the most unexpected superhero casting news since it was announced in September that Robert Downey, Jr. would be donning Iron Man's exoskeleton, Variety reports that fellow card-carrying Serious Actor Edward Norton has signed on for an Incredible Hulk sequel planned for release next summer:

"Edward Norton is a rare talent and one of the most versatile actors in the business," Marvel Studios production president Kevin Feige said in a statement. "His ability to transform into a particular role makes him the ideal choice to take on the character of Bruce Banner and the Hulk. Edward is perfectly suited to bring one of the most popular and important Marvel icons to the bigscreen in a new and exciting way."

While the news was initially jarring (the deafening sound of a cash register's cha-ching can be particularly distracting) , we suppose that we can see the logic in Norton's selection; like Downey, whose troubled past will no doubt inform his portrayal of the flawed Tony Stark, Norton's previous Fight Club experience, in which he played a tormented character who also suffered from periodic transformations into a better-muscled, subverbal, wantonly violent alter-ego, makes him uniquely qualified for the Hulk role.

Norton to star in 'Hulk' [Variety]