So, this is new … a teaser for the teaser trailer for Incredible Hulk:
In the future, movie trailers will be slowly leaked onto the internet in one-second intervals. Collect’em all.
Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily says that Ed Norton is very happy with the trailer, which debuts tomorrow on MTV: “I’m told the pic’s producer-screenwriter-star Edward Norton helped get the trailer ready last week and loves it.”
But is he happy with the movie?
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.
And then there’s this:
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.)
After the last Hulk film, their fears are probably justified … but still, when they spend $150 million on a movie, you’d expect a bit more publicity, esp. when you consider how much attention Iron Man has gotten over the last year or so.
you have to say, with the trailer coming out this late, and with so little information availible this close to summer, i’m a little worried about this movie.
It’s like the overall enthusiasm and support from marvel has been shifted its weight fully toward Iron Man. The hype machine for this movie has been quite a disappointment at best.
Does marvel already know the movie won’t be that good? Does even Ed Norton know?
Does marvel just want to shift it’s marketing power toward Iron Man, knowing that its the better movie and it will garner the better crowd anyway? In a way this could make sense because this is Marvel’s first big movie as an independent movie company, and it would be better if it was a big critically acclaimed box office hit, than what they may see to end up a flop.
Oh god I hope I’m wrong.
Comment by btrick — March 11, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
hmmmm….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_history_x#Controversy
deja vu?
Comment by teepers — March 11, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
I notice they’re playing up the connections to the old TV show with the logo, the close up of the eyes. I think this’ll be good. But then, I liked the first one.
Comment by RMC — March 11, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
Norton is notorious for having serious control issues with his projects, so this is no surprise. American History X was the most famous (infamous) incident but I have heard it happens on most films he is involved in.
Not making any judgments, just saying I imagine Marvel expected this when they brought him on board, or at least they should have.
And I also agree it is very odd to have a $150 million movie, with hopes of a franchise, launching in just a few months with no advance publicity yet. I keep forgetting this movie is coming out, so I bet a very large portion of the general movie going public has no idea another Hulk is even being made.
Comment by Joseph — March 11, 2008 @ 3:16 pm
If you’re going to let him take over the movie, for Pete’s sake, let him in the editing suite to finish the job….it was already proven last time that Marvel didn’t know how to handle the property.
Sometimes not promoting a movie to the point of total saturation is a GOOD thing. Often times, by the time the movie hits the screen I am so sick of the ad campaign that I have become negative…not to mention that they end up showing the bulk of any iinteresting footage just to get me into the show.
I actually like the “old days” (pre-internet spoiler time) where you saw a movie knowing very little about what you were about to see.
Comment by dwolf — March 11, 2008 @ 3:49 pm
What they need to do is to sit Ed Norton down in a room with the Marvel people, and toss a coin. Whichever side wins gets to decide how to cut the movie.
Comment by Tom Daylight — March 11, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
“it was already proven last time that Marvel didn’t know how to handle the property.”
Actually, no. I think it was proven last time that Ang Lee didn’t know how to handle the franchise. The problem then was that Marvel *didn’t* excert more control.
Comment by Jason M. Bryant — March 11, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
I’ve liked all of Edward Norton’s movies that I’ve seen, so if he exerted creative control on all of them, then Marvel should let him do the same for HULK.
I have no desire to see another s***-burger like Ang Lee’s version was…
Comment by snikt snakt — March 11, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
The lack of advertising for this film is indeed disturbing, regardless of what the final result may be (good or bad), or whether there’s some behind the scenes problems.
Comment by silvanthalas — March 11, 2008 @ 5:12 pm
I’m not convinced that the fact that there’s little-to-no buzz on this film will have much impact on the opening weekend. We all have our various complaints over the Ang Lee’s take on the green guy, but I’m willing to bet, people head into the theater on the already established name recognition and just because we want to see if they could actually screw it up twice. Also, lets not forget that, despite what we may think of the first take, it still pulled in over 245 million dollars. If, as many expect, Incredible Hulk is gobs better, theres no reason it won’t pull in at least close to this amount (nearly an 80% return over the initial investment).
Comment by Nick Alan Jones — March 11, 2008 @ 6:18 pm
“If you’re going to let him take over the movie, for Pete’s sake, let him in the editing suite to finish the job….it was already proven last time that Marvel didn’t know how to handle the property.”
First off, Marvel wasn’t in charge of the first Hulk movie. Second, Ang Lee did an amazing job and gave comic fans exactly what they’ve been clamoring for all these years — an intelligent, well-acted, well-directed comic book film that took itself and the source material seriously. And the fans complained because there wasn’t enough “HULK SMASH!”
And as a result, Marvel, in what will go down as one of the biggest blunders in comic film history, replaced the entire cast, including Sam Elliot (who IS Thunderbolt Ross as much as Patrick Stewart is Professor X or Christopher Reeve was Superman). And replacing Jennifer Connelly, one of the greatest, most underrated actresses of our time with Liv Tyler, who is absolutely horrid?
To add insult to injury, the got the director of “masterpieces” like Unleashed and The Transporter films to replace Ang Lee, who is an extremely skilled, innovative, and imaginative director. And they got Zak Penn, the guy who wrote Elektra, X-Men: The Last Stand, Inspector Gadget, and Behind Enemy Lines (a movie so horrid I walked out of it, something I’ve NEVER done) to pen the script.
And what happened? You all cheered it on. You said, “yes! Yes! Great news! Yes!”
This is why fanboys should have no voice in creative endeavors. The ONLY silver lining in this movie is the presence of Edward Norton. But he couldn’t save the horrid remake of The Italian Job, and I sincerely doubt that he’ll be able to save this.
Comment by DP — March 11, 2008 @ 6:40 pm
Not enough info here to really side with either Norton or Marvel. I just hope the movie turns out good. And simply because everyone else is chiming in on it, I felt that the previous HULK movie was very good. The only thing that hurt it for me was the very weak final battle sequence, which was quite hard to follow, visually.
Comment by Uncle Jawa — March 11, 2008 @ 7:16 pm
“First off, Marvel wasn’t in charge of the first Hulk movie. Second, Ang Lee did an amazing job and gave comic fans exactly what they’ve been clamoring for all these years — an intelligent, well-acted, well-directed comic book film that took itself and the source material seriously. And the fans complained because there wasn’t enough “HULK SMASH!” ”
No, that’s not remotely close to why I complained.
I had a lot of problems with the movie. A full minute of helicopters flying over the desert is not improved by having multiple camera angles of it at the same time. The final action scene had plenty of “Hulk Smash,” but it was so dark and the enemy so ridiculous that it didn’t matter. Bana played Banner so lifelessly that it was hard to care about the character.
I don’t think the movie was anything close to what comic fans had been clamoring for. I think he made an artsy, convoluted mess.
Comment by Jason M. Bryant — March 11, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
I can remember sitting at the SD Comic Con and someone asking Ang Lee who the Hulk was going to be when he was the Hulk? When Lee replied, “He’s going to be CG.” the room went silent and all I could think of was Jar Jar on steroids. I still saw the movie and it sucked. I thought Lee’s use of DePalma’s film style was great but since it didn’t permeate throughout the whole of the movie it was clear that it was an after thought.
This year at SD Comic Con they announced the new Hulk movie to which I was very lukewarm until they mentioned that Norton was going to be Banner. This made me do a 180 and actually see this movie. Unfortunately, hearing this squabble break out has made me very wary. I can bet that Marvel is wanting more of the Hulk and less of Banner dumping characterization in the process. If they do this, the franchise IS cursed by their own hand. What Marvel should do is step back and let this Academy Award winner do the movie his way! Was Tony Kaye mad at Norton for his editing on American History X? Yes, and that ended up being a great movie with Tony Kaye saying several years later that he was happy New Line didn’t let his ego disassociate his name from the movie. Marvel needs to shut up! Marvel should also pay attention to the fact that Norton’s abilities are what make, “The Illusionist,” another great movie that had little publicity and it’s dwarfing the first Hulk movie in sales.
Comment by Wes — March 12, 2008 @ 12:52 am
The first Hulk movie is still the best comicbook movie yet produced and what i have seen so far indicates that this will be even better, so even though The Illusionist was a pretty bad movie with terrible Norton acting i think they should just let him do his thing
Comment by Zeitgeist — March 12, 2008 @ 2:31 am
Um, I don’t think Ed Norton’s actually won an Academy Award, though I know he was nominated twice…
I find it funny how polarized the fans on this particular page seem to be on the first Hulk movie (I liked it but acknowledge it was extremely flawed; how’s that for a spineless compromise?) but feel really and truly worried about how Marvel’s hype machine is moving veeeery…sloooooowly…on this movie. I mean, we’re talking the masters of hyperbole here, yet all we have so far is a teaser that’s a couple of seconds long.
Still, the way they got burned for their Superbowl 2003 spot must really be etched in their memories.
Comment by Komikfan — March 12, 2008 @ 7:23 am
Norton may well be a great actor, but he’s also one of the most notorious control freaks in Hollywood (that’s probably why he got along with Marlon Brando so well), and that’s also why, despite being such a great actor, he doesn’t get more work, because by many he’s seen as “more trouble than he’s worth”, especially when you consider that most of his films aren’t all that financially successful in Hollywood terms. So, yeah, this news doesn’t really surprise me much at all.
If he really wants that much power and control over his projects then it beats me why he doesn’t direct them himself, but I guess he’s more comfortable in most cases with having someone with less power than him do the hard yards of directing, and who he can then overpower as the desire takes him, both on set and during post production.
Comment by Sledge Hammer — March 12, 2008 @ 8:00 am
I wouldn’t consider Jennifer Connolly “one of the greatest, most underrated actresses” of our time. I think she’s passable. I know she was nominated (and maybe won) an Academy Award…but I’ve never seen her act well. Most of the time she just drifts through a role.
Anyway - I don’t believe she wanted to stay for the second Hulk movie. Had they kept the original cast, I think they still would have had to recast Betty Ross and Bruce Banner because Jennifer, along with Eric Bana, were not planning to return. Since they had to recast the two leads and since they wanted to go in a different direction, it made sense to just recast everyone.
But I agree that Sam Elliott was a great Thunderbolt Ross and I doubt William Hurt will be as equally good.
Comment by nightwingoracle — March 12, 2008 @ 8:04 am
Actually Bana said in Australia last year, during a motoring event he was in called Targa Tasmania, that he was never even asked to return for a sequel, nor was he ever informed officially by anyone involved that he would no longer be required, he found out about Hulk’s new direction and the fact that they were recasting the roles the same way that everyone else did, on the net. He seemed a little disappointed about the fact too.
He also said that he was actually interested in returning if they ironed out some of the kinks the first film had, and that his contract for the first included an option to have him return for a second film, as long as the follow up was made during a certain timeframe from the first one’s release.
He also wished the new film and everyone involved the best of luck, commented on how talented he thinks Norton is as an actor, and said he was looking forward to seeing the new film when it comes out, which was likely just him playing public nice guy, but was still good of him to act so cool about it all regardless, without showing even a hint of bitterness. Seemed like a class guy.
Comment by Sledge Hammer — March 12, 2008 @ 10:32 am
“We all have our various complaints over the Ang Lee’s take on the green guy” - My only complaint regards all the loud fanboys who don’t know a good movie when they see it.
Comment by Kyle — March 12, 2008 @ 11:09 am
Far as I’m concerned if you have a great writer/actor in your employ you let him do what the hell he wants!
I didn’t think the 1st movie was as awful as some did, but it wasn’t very great as a HULK movie, that’s for sure!
So, even if this isn’t a big money maker if someone can end up in great movies like Illusionist, a subject matter that should have bored me, there must be something to his writing and acting!
I’m looking forward to this, even if I have little to no interest in Hulk.
Comment by OcCaM — March 12, 2008 @ 11:13 am
I just hope the flick is good.
Comment by chrishaley — March 12, 2008 @ 12:12 pm
“My only complaint regards all the loud fanboys who don’t know a good movie when they see it.”
I know.. how dare they have an opinion that is different from yours?!
Comment by KSChris — March 12, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
I remember the rumors that everyone involved HATED Norton’s page one rewrite of the script.
I think he’s a brilliant actor but he should’ve laid off. But then, I felt it was a bad idea to reboot the franchise with a director only known for mindless action. I thought Ang Lee’s “Hulk” was brilliant and lyrical and totally misunderstood. I think this will be even worse for fans - action-packed but mindless.
Comment by jase — March 12, 2008 @ 11:08 pm
Ok, I just watched the trailer. I know exactly what’s going on and why Marvel is mad. Norton wrote himself too much screen time as Bruce Banner and just a little bit of Hulk.
How do I know this? If you use deductive reasoning and have seen enough trailers, you can figure it out. That last confrontation is the last part of the movie. In order to do that, he has to make nice with the military and William Hurt “as Bruce Banner” to convince him that he can beat The Abomination. He can’t do that as Hulk, and that takes a lot of dialogue time as Banner. If Hulk went out of control just once, the whole U.S. military is going to be on a relentless hunt for Norton and only Norton, and Ross would never agree to let him loose again, yet we see the military dropping him into the city in a joint effort. The focus appears to be Bruce Banner trying to control the Hulk persona or eliminate it altogether instead of what Ang Lee did in just following Hulk around as he is misunderstood by the general public and being hounded by everyone as he was in the spirit of the early Hulk comics. Therefore, logically, we will end up seeing Norton way more than is necessary, and Hulk way less than we want.
I cannot envision a movie with a lot of Hulk screen time based upon that trailer.
Comment by shamon — March 13, 2008 @ 7:09 am
“Therefore, logically, we will end up seeing Norton way more than is necessary, and Hulk way less than we want.
I cannot envision a movie with a lot of Hulk screen time based upon that trailer.”
Well, I can. And since I’ve written the novelization and know just how much the Hulk’s in the film, my vision’s a little more 20/20 than yours is on this matter, I have to think…
PAD
Comment by Peter David — March 24, 2008 @ 9:45 am