Del Toro and Eick to Produce HULK TV?

hulk_transDeadline.com reports that Guillermo del Toro (HELLBOY) and David Eick (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) are in talks to produce the new HULK TV series for ABC Studios and Marvel Television, both now owned by Disney.
According to the article, the two will hash out the story for the pilot, which will be written by David Eick. It seems it will be an origin story featuring an  energetic, 20-something Bruce Banner. 
Subject to his schedule, De Toro would direct the pilot, and design the look of the Hulk, likely a combination of prosthetic makeup, animatronic puppets, and CGI as needed.  
The series, intended for the ABC Network possibly in Fall 2012,  would be Guillermo del Toro’s first TV production.

Mark Ruffalo On Bruce Banner – Clip

According to Digital Spy, Mark Ruffalo is thinking that he’d like to make Bruce Banner a little more like Bill Bixby’s likeable underdog from his television version of THE INCREDIBLE HULK.
Describing what he and AVENGERS director Joss Whedon and he are hoping to achieve, he said the following.

“We want him to be an kind of an everyman, not so dour. A little more charming or accessible. We’re still sort of working it out with the script… I’m not exactly sure what it’ll end up being, but we’ve talked quite a bit about the Bill Bixby version of the Hulk.”
 

Hear the rest of his comments in the clip, including his expectation that  working with Robert Downey Jr. will inject some humor into the situation.

HULK To Smash TVs Again?

Hulk_INCU_WAccording to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Entertainment  and ABC are seriously developing a new TV version of THE INCREDIBLE HULK, despite the character already being committed to THE AVENGERS.
Marvel Television, headed on the creative side by Jeph Loeb, is also said to be working on  a TV adaptation of  Cloak and Dagger,  possibly for ABC Family. ABC and ABC Family are both owned by Disney, which now owns Marvel.
Cloak-and-Dagger-marvel-comicsApparently, back in May, Marvel Television also pitched the ideas of a number of Marvel properties as potential series including:
 HEROES FOR HIRE (Luke Cage. IRON FIST is reportedly in development as a feature film.)
MOON KNIGHT
KA-ZAR (Marvel’s long-standing Tarzan riff, now to solve crimes in today’s urban jungle, aided by his sabre-toothed tiger pal… No, really.)
AGENTS OF ATLAS
THE ETERNALS (Secret superheroes among us.)
THE PUNISHER (He’d have to go cable or become non-lethal, I’d guess.)
… and a number of female detective characters involved with superhumans in one way or another.
Thor_TVTHE INCREDIBLE HULK was a succesful series for CBS  from 1978-82, starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Attempts to use the character in later TV movies to launch THOR and DAREDEVIL series for ABC didn’t pan out.
For the full list of Marvel pitches, check out the link above.

Whedon Reveals AVENGERS Details

Avengers_ComicCon_largeTouring Austrialia, writer/director Joss Whedon told the newspaper The Sunday Herald-Sun that THE AVENGERS movie will not be based on any single comic book, but rather a synthesis of sources.

“It will be a new story that has many things from different arcs of the comics in it. There is no one Avengers story that you can just do the way that you can do the origin of Spider-Man. You really have to cull from the original and The Ultimates, which is one of The Avengers titles.”

Whedon also revealed that Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow will not be the only woman in the movie.

“It is true that the movie is only going to have one female Avenger… But she will not be the only female character“.

These leads one to speculate what female characters might been seen. IRON MAN ‘s Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow)? THE INCREDIBLE HULK’s Betty Ross (Liv Tyler)? A much older version of Captain America’s Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) — or perhaps Shield agent Sharon Carter?   
A big cast that seems to be growing for the Marvel Studios /  Paramount Pictures superhero film. Production is slated to begin in February, 2011.
Via Australia’s Moviehole.net

"Step Away From The Purple Pants!" – Ed Norton Out As Hulk In THE AVENGERS

incredible-hulk-FL-03Yesterday, HitFlix reported that Marvel will indeed be releasing THE AVENGERS movie in 2012, but will be doing so without Edward Norton. According to Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige:

“We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in the Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks.”


(Read the rest of the HitFlix report here)
It seems no one can find a home in Hulk’s size 67 pants. No doubt the search is on for the next Bruce Banner. Until then, let the speculation commence!

Box Office: Hulk smashes Happening

THE INCREDIBLE HULK smashed its way into American 3,505 theatres this weekend, earning $54.54-million. That gave it an easy first-place win,surpassing last week’s winner, KUNG FU PANDA, which shuffled into second place with $34.32-million.
The weekend’s other big debut, THE HAPPENING, had to settle for third place, with $30.5-million earned in 2,986 theatres.
As for returning cinefantastique titles:
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL whipped its way into fifth place, down from third, with $13.55-million. The four-week total is $275.33-million.
IRON MAN decayed from #6 to #7 in its seventh weekend of release. The $5.13-million in ticket sales raised the total to $297.43-million.
THE STRANGERS dropped into eighth place, down three notches, earning $4.1-million. The three-week total is $45.36-million.
CHORNICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN retreated from #7 to #9, adding $3-million worth of treasure to the five-week total of $131.74-million.
Read the complete Top Ten here.

Incredible Hulk – "It smashes!"

Given the dreadful critical reception that greeted Universal’s 2003 attempt at bringing the HULK to the screen, one has to admire the studio’s willingness to pretty much forget about maintaining continuity with their misguided first effort and simply start over. As a result, this new version of THE INCREDIBLE HULK is sure to be far better received by critics, and will undoubtedly exceed the previous HULK’s box-office take of $132 million. Screenwriter Zak Penn (X2) has wisely relegated the origin story to an inventive visual recap quickly told behind the opening credits, freeing director Louis Leterrier (TRANSPORTER) to begin telling his story without getting bogged down with unneeded exposition. As the film opens, we first discover Bruce Banner toiling by day as an anonymous worker in a Rio de Janeiro bottling factory. By night, he studies Portuguese, attempts to discover a herbal cure for his gamma infected cells, or simply watches re-runs of THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER. Continue reading “Incredible Hulk – "It smashes!"”