Hulk

[thegroggman]

Well...I reported in this earlier...but now its official. Last Saturday there was the first screening of HULK. Chicago Sun-Times was the first to report on it:

HULKING UP: At the first public screening of "The Hulk" (in the Alfred Hitchcock Theater on the Universal lot) Saturday night, security was very tight. Cell phones were checked to see if they contained camera features, and guards used wands on reporters to detect recording devices, etc. Director Ang Lee made a surprise appearance, telling the reporters that Universal and all those involved in producing "The Hulk" gave him everything he needed, "all the money I needed to make this the way I wanted to make it." So, Lee said, "If the movie sucks, it's all MY fault!"

**One of the biggest laughs at "The Hulk" screening came early on, when Lou Ferrigno, the star of the old TV show "The Incredible Hulk," walked across the screen in a quick cameo, playing a security guard.

It would be nice to go to a screening...cuz I dont know if I can wait the next 18 days

[thegroggman]

The webmaster over at thehulk.com was one of the individual invited to the screening....although no one is allowed to post any reviews till the week of the release ( I think we'll see one earlier..) heres what he had to say:

"Yeah, I was there. Unfortunately, none of us are supposed to post any type of review until the week of the release. Universal has treated me very well, and I will honor the request.

But I will say this, as the self apointed king of the Hulk "geeks", this was the defintely the Hulk that I grew up reading. I am a little sad that, for me, the anticipation is over, and I am jealous that you guys still have that. You will not be dissapointed.

I will say that all of actors, directors, and animators were top notch people who really handled our character the way we would have wanted. I would defintely want the same crew involved in the sequel, which by the way, has aleady begun scripting."

Coming from a guy like him that says alot....and heres another short tidbit from a viewer...

I was there, I'm not really supposed to talk about it, but you guys know the story anyways.
But I'll give a typical summary.
8/10. It was better than Spider-man and as good as X2 (if not better). WAYYY better than the Matrix Reloaded. And the CG is only rough in a couple of spots. But most of the movie, the CGI is perfect. I only have a couple of small complaints about it, but overall it was another hit by Marvel. Even though, it never had a real Marvel feel to it. It was an adult comic book movie. Wouldn't take the kids to see it, they probably wouldn't understand it, and they could possibly find it scary. But who knows.

An adult Marvel film...all I can say is fin-a-freakinly.

Finally a great piece from The Observer on this summers films including HULK:

Can the Hulk cut it? Has Lara had her day?

Now The Matrix has raised the blockbuster stakes, someone's sure to catch a summer cold

Anne Thompson
Sunday June 1, 2003
The Observer

Green is the new colour in Hollywood. It's the colour of the Matrix, the computer grid that isn't real, and it's the colour of the green screens that filmmakers

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like Andy and Larry Wachowski use to shoot effects movies like The Matrix Reloaded. The masters of green-screen filmmaking have become the most sought-after stars in Hollywood today.
These are the digital effects wizards who manipulate the bytes of cyberspace, and none is more in demand than John Gaeta, who made it possible for the Wachowskis to nimbly choreograph the cinematic balance between flesh-and-blood actors leaping in empty green rooms and hundreds of digital clones swirling in impossible circles in the air.

Today's summer event-movies have become like old Hollywood musicals, with often flimsy plot structures buoyed up by fantastic larger-than-life action sequences. Visual effects have morphed from Roy Harryhausen's rickety stop-motion skeletons in 1958's Seventh Voyage of Sinbad to premier visual-effects house Industrial Light and Magic's computer-graphic demon skeletons battling swashbuckler Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of The Black Pearl (known in the trade as 'Mummies on the High Sea&#39. The studios are in the habit of hiring ILM's digital magicians to make their summer movies special, from Jurassic Park, Twister and The Perfect Storm to The Mummy.

Now the stakes have been raised higher than ever as audiences expect more for their money. There's an enormous difference between the ground-breaking effects that the Wachowskis can create, and the rest of the summer action movies, which farm out individual sequences to costly but reliable ILM and other smaller independent effects houses, which are always on the verge of going out of business. (Sony runs its own cash-guzzler, Sony Imageworks - Spider-Man, Bad Boys II, while DreamWorks owns PDI, which was responsible for Shrek ).

As Matrix Reloaded races towards a $275 million US box office, it's going to be a hard act to follow for the season's other action adventures. ( X-Men 2 grabbed its money early and ran.) The studios that have lavished millions on effects movies to rival Matrix Reloaded are sweating bullets. They all know that somebody's going to strike out this summer.

The fattest bullseye is on another green movie, Universal's $120m Hulk. It is preceded by enormous expectations (like Pearl Harbor ); it's based on a beloved Marvel comic (like Spider-Man); and it relies on well-executed mammoth-scale effects (like Godzilla ). Hulk director Ang Lee ( Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ), unproven in this genre, is taking a hands-on approach with ILM. If the green monster, whose size inflates with his rage, doesn't work, neither does the movie.

Typically, internet fans have already weighed in on the Hulk's look: too cartoonish, too Shrek. Universal vice-chairman Marc Shmuger counters that he just hasn't been able to reveal the best stuff: 'The most spectacular effects were back-loaded. We're now getting to where we can show off what we have.'

At least Hulk offers moviegoers something they haven't seen before. Now they've seen Matrix Reloaded, a slew of costly sequels that once looked sure-fire may now seem tired. Angelina Jolie brought her video game heroine to life in 2001's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, but the movie had little in the way of a story. Still, game fans demanded more Indiana-Jones-style movie action and Paramount green-lit Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life directed by Jan DeBont ( Twister ). 'We have to deliver a good movie this time,' admits one Paramount executive. But when Croft rappels down the side of a building head-first with twin guns blazing, moviegoers will know that Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) did it better in Reloaded.

In the $175m Terminator 3, the latest cyborg threat is red-leathered Terminatrix Kristanna Loken. She not only has to stand up to Arnie, but to Jolie and Carrie Anne Moss too. Not to mention Demi Moore, fallen angel in Full Throttle, latest in the Charlie's Angels franchise. In 2000, Charlie's Angels played to women, who enjoyed the sexy repartee. It was novel to see these babes using Matrix-style high-wire kicks. Full Throttle, sets out to deliver action for the guys too. But 'boys don't like to see kick-ass females' asserts one marketing chief, who thinks the film risks alienating both constituencies.

It's hard to imagine women flocking to see Michael Bay's Bad Boys II, even if it does star Will Smith (plus a phalanx of flying cars), or John Singleton's 2 Fast 2 Furious (ditto), or Clark Johnson's TV remake SWAT (Colin Farrell notwithstanding). And The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, based on the Alan Moore comics, looks like another take on the X Men 2 band of superheroes. Studio marketers must figure out how to make these movies pop. 'I don't know if you can be mid-range and survive,' says Columbia marketing president Geoff Ammer.

Success often comes from taking chances and trying something daring, fresh and different - like the first Matrix. 'Hollywood hates and fears having to be creative,' says Landmark Cinema marketing chief Ray Price. 'What's hard is to take on something that has no identity.'

So Universal gets some counter-programming points for opening horse-racing drama Seabiscuit, starring Spider-Man Tobey Maguire as a Depression-era jockey. And Paramount chairman Sherry Lansing made a gutsy move when she greenlit the $75m The Italian Job. A remake of the cult 1969 caper, it boasts a non-marquee cast (Edward Norton, Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron) and earthbound Mini Cooper stunts instead of effects. 'Summer is no place for the faint of heart,' says anxious producer Donald DeLine. 'Each year it's got more daunting, worse and worse, in terms of each movie being a blockbuster brand.'

Many of the summer movies that catch on are 100 per cent new. Pixar production chief John Lasseter has an unmatched record with blockbuster original comedies. (His four animated smashes in a row - Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life and Monsters Inc - have grossed $1.7bn worldwide.) The neon-bright underwater comedy adventure Finding Nemo, with the voices of Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres, makes Disney/Pixar five for five.

Robert Rodriguez, too, has major cojones. He not only made his summer sequel, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, on a $35m shoestring, but he had the temerity to satirise The Matrix!

The studios aren't wasting any time staking their summer 2004 claims with a rash of costly effects extravaganzas and sequels: monster mash Van Helsing, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Vin Diesel in the Pitch Black sequel The Chronicles of Riddick, Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2, Will Smith in Isaac Asimov's I, Robot and the TV remake Thunderbirds. As toymaker Sylvester Stallone intones in Spy Kids 3-D: 'This childish game will soon be over. And a new game will soon begin.'

· Green-fingered growth industry

One sign that The Hulk will pull in moviegoers, initially at least, is that toy stores can't get enough green Hulk hands. Last summer stores sold 3.5 million Spider-Man web blasters; orders for Hulk hands have already topped 5 million.

Where's the romance?

You'd think the studios would have turned out a raft of romantic comedies after last summer's Big Fat Greek Wedding grossed over $240m. Not so. The ultra-stylish Down with Love, starring Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger as Fifties incarnations of Rock Hudson and Doris Day, hasn't got a thumbs-up from the American movie public. And while over-exposed stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez fell in love while making Gigli, disputes over the film's ending and tone have nearly brought Revolution studio chief Joe Roth and director Marty Brest to blows. Is it a gangster buddy comedy, or romantic action adventure? Early reports suggest it may be what Hollywood calls a 'tweener' - a movie that winds up pleasing no one.

A funny thing happened ...

With fears of terrorism on the rise, the US box office dipped 9 per cent from January to April, but comedies during the same period were up 25 per cent. Which may explain why Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty trounced The Matrix Reloaded in its second weekend. And hopes are high for summer comedy entries Johnny English, American Wedding, Freaky Friday, Legally Blonde:Red White and Blonde and Spy Kids 3-D. Even Hollywood Homicide could benefit if straight men Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett manage to squeeze a few laughs out of the exhausted buddy cop genre.

Ed's heroic villain

Edward Norton is landing some strong praise for his role as a sleazy villain in The Italian Job, which Paramount studio chief Sherry Lansing forced him to perform by holding him to a contract dating back to 1996's Primal Fear. He complained bitterly, but on set he manfully did his duty.

Good stuff B)

Edit: Whoa...just found this...Turns out Ang is finally done:

HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) -- Director Ang Lee says he just completed the final print of "The Hulk," at 2 a.m. June 2, just hours before he was supposed to give interviews to the press.

He greeted the press corps for a screening Sunday night at the Universal Studios Alfred Hitch**** Theatre and then went back to the lab to finish the film that will be released to the public on June 20.

"I was still working a lot at the lab, I was still tweaking the release print in the lab at the studio," Lee tells Zap2it.com in an interview Monday (June 2.)

Producer Gale Anne Hurd says the perfectionist director, who was an Academy Award nominee for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," was working late into the morning to get the print completed. "There were minor things he wanted to adjust," she says.

Lee said at the the screening, "I got a big budget and everything I wanted from the studio, so if this movie sucks it's all my fault."

The film, starring Eric Bana and Jennifer Connelly, co-stars Nick Nolte and Sam Elliot who were giving interviews Monday. Connelly canceled because she is pregnant. At the press junket on Monday, Nolte had trouble getting onto the studio lot because his name wasn't at the gate.

"It's OK, the security is super tight these days," says Hurd. "They wouldn't let me on the lot this morning either."

But Bana says that his limo driver talked to the guard when Bana didn't have is ID to get into the lot.

"He said to the guard, 'Hey, this guy in the back is the Hulk, and you don't want him to get angry,' " Bana tells Zap2it.

June 20...so far...

[thegroggman]

OK...the stuff is just flooding in now...

Avi talks to Playboy:

In the July 2003 issue of Playboy, Avi Arad discusses The Hulk and other Marvel adaptations in a short interview. Thought you'd all enjoy:

Q: What is it about The Hulk that keeps you up at night?
A: The terror is that we're making a creature that's completely CGI but must interact in a believable way with it's environment and real actors. We want you to watch the Hulk and actually see his emotions. That's a minefield.

Q: When a picture turned up on the web, some people said Hulk looked more like Shrek.
A: I used to go nuts over this Internet stuff. With Marvel, there's a pretty passionate community out there that cares so much they sometimes beat us over the head. Any breathing male with red blood in his veins is going to see this movie regardless.

Q: How is it decided which of Marvel's 4700 characters gets the big-screen treatment next?
A: With the comics, computer games and animated shows doing well, the geek community gets bigger and bigger, and they'll go to any Marvel film. Daredevil was - no ifs, ands, or buts - Ben Affleck in a red costume and that's it. A small character, risky business. It had a record opening weekend and finally made $100 million.

Q: Did you foresee that Spider-Man would be such a huge success?
A: When Marvel was facing bankruptcy, I begged the big bankers to give us a second chance, saying, "Don't sell yourselves short, guys. Spider-Man alone will make a billion." I was only off by $600 million.

Q:What is your least favorite superhero costume?
A: Let's put it this way - you haven't seen it on the screen. Costumes cause the most soul-searching on every movie. If we make X-Men costumes as colorful as they are in the comics, will it look like a New Year's Eve ball in Italy?

Q: Do you think the superhero movie boom will fade soon?
A: As long as we zigzag and make the characters compelling, the sky's the limit. What people remember about these movies in not guys in tights flipping between buildings. We're penetrating the masses now. You can't generate $100 million and the box office just from comic book geeks.

Comics2Film interviews HULK screenwriter:

On Friday, Comics2Film/CBR News presented part one of our interview with "Hulk" screenwriter John Turman. Turman talked about the excitement of his first job with a major studio being work on a comic character he'd always loved. In part two Turman gives additional insights into bringing jade jaws to the silver screen, and which other projects are on the horizon for him.

CGI LEADING MAN

In the mid 1990s, CGI effects were just starting to explode. Turman recalls that early on they were talking about rendering the Hulk as a virtual actor.

"I started out as a storyboard artist and I remember in my early meetings with Gale Hurd, I brought in a few sketches even though I was just the writer," Turman said. "I know that we had a number of discussions about the look of the Hulk. I had always seen him as a CGI wrapped around the actor. I just felt that it would be very difficult to paint a body builder green in this day and age."

Turman may have been influenced by another movie, which was one of the first to present compelling organic creations in CGI. "I remember in an early outline I described the Hulk as looking more like a dinosaur from 'Jurassic Park' than a body builder. I had always wanted that thick, big-limbed, force-of-nature look to it."

So does the CGI leading man look as good as Turman envisioned eight years ago?

"At this point, I've only seen the trailers and it looks great to me," Turman told C2F/CBR News. "I'm trying to separate out how much of that is my rooting interest in it and how much of it is just being a fan."

NOT EASY BEING A FAN

C2F asked Turman what impact being comics literate has on his screenwriting career.

"It makes me a lot more frustrated. I grew up on that stuff and its tough because you know there are things that you know would make wonderful films and you don't have the clout to get them done," Turman said. Being a comics guru also has its pluses.

"I think it helps now because comic book films are hot this year," Turman said, but the increased interest brings increased competition. "I've been working on these types of projects and trying to move them forward through production through most of my career on and off. Lately the market is tougher because there's a lot more people who want to get on the bandwagon."

However, understanding the language of both comics and films may give writers like Turman an edge in translating them.

"There's one big difference in how comics are consumed and how films are. With a comic you sit there with a page and you can look at a panel or a page as long as you want. The pacing of that story is largely up to the reader. With film, they unfold in a set period of time. The weight to give a scene and an image is the filmmaker's choice. It starts with the writer but real quickly it's the director."

Another fundamental difference is the episodic nature of comics versus the self-contained nature of film. However, Turman sees a blending of those ideas that benefits both mediums.

"You've got a lot more comics which are graphic novels with self-contained stories that unfold like films. Conversely, films are recognizing the power and the audience's interest in investing in a character or a group of characters and watching their continuing adventures, like the old serials did," Turman said.

This blending leads to blockbuster fare like "The Matrix."

NON-COMICS COMIC FILMS

As "The Matrix" demonstrated, not all the best superhero movies are based on comic books.

"I believe that the best comic book films aren't always based on comic books," Turman said. "To me a great comic book film is 'Matrix' or 'Indiana Jones' or 'Terminator' or 'Robocop.' I love these films.

"I've tended to feel in the past that those films are better comic book films because they take the characters really seriously."

The old belief on the part of Hollywood that comic books were a second-rate genre had the contradictory effect of allowing for well-made genre fare that was comic-like, but often soured projects that were actually based on comics.

"In the past I've found it's often hard to get the studio executives to take the desires of the characters as seriously as they do films that aren't based on a comic book source," Turman said. 

That trend appears to be changing, with the advent of movies like "X-Men" which took Marvel's mutants dead seriously.

"From what I can tell of the final film of 'The Hulk,' they're taking the character seriously, which is why I'm thrilled to be a part of it and am so encouraged by the final product."

NEW COMIC-LIKE HEROES

To that end, Turman has turned his attention to a new big-screen action hero.

"'Casca' is based on a series of novels by Barry Sadler," Turman said of his new project, which blends military and religious themes. "They're based on a character who was a roman soldiers who, legend has it, pierced the side of Christ on the cross. As a result of that he was blessed or cursed to never die and to walk the earth, from battle to battle for over 2000 years."

The movie is set in the present day. Scott Kroopf and Tom Engelman ("Pitch Black") are producing under their Radar Pictures banner.

"It's sort of an existential action film. A character who's been alive for so long, his purpose and meaning have gotten lost through time," Turman said.

Turman also revealed that he's writing an original spec script that, while comic-like in certain aspects, is not based on pre-existing comics.

OTHER COMIC MOVIES

As a comic fan, Turman continues to pursue comic-based movie projects. While he's pitched several, he told C2F that a few still hold his interest.

"I'm not currently involved with the Silver Surfer but I sure would love to be again. I like the character and I was very proud of that script," Turman said, having taken a crack at the character a few years ago.

He'd also love to take a pass at "Doc Savage" or Will Eisner's "The Spirit." Of course, he'd also like to continue to delve into the mind that created "The Hulk."

"The guy who really created modern comics is Jack Kirby. So in many ways his stuff is first and oldest, yet in many ways his creations seem to have the most complexity and translate the best to film," Turman said, citing "The Hulk" and "X-Men" as examples. 

"There's a reason that Jack Kirby is such a seminal figure. His stuff endures. I would consider it an honor and a treat to work on any of his concepts."

In talking with Mike France after the final determination of credits on "The Hulk," Turman realized they were both big fans of another Kirby concept called "Challengers of the Unknown."

"That's not a super-hero comic, but it's sort of a cross between 'Fantastic Four' and 'Doc Savage' and 'Indiana Jones.' That would be a dream project. If anybody out there is reading this and working at Warners, give me and Mike a crack at 'Challengers.'"

Until he gets the "Challengers" gig, Turman will have to be content with seeing his first and favorite work on the screen next month. "The Hulk" smashes into theaters June 20.

Rockers watch screening...make music..and stuff:

Music from the Motion Picture, The Hulk, to Be Released on Decca/UMG Soundtracks June 17, 2003

Tuesday June 3, 9:06 am ET

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 2003--Universal Classics
Including the Exclusive New Track, "Set Me Free," Performed by

Super Group Featuring Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots), Slash,

Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, Formerly of Guns N' Roses, and Dave

Kushner of Suicidal Tendencies

Original Film Score by Danny Elfman

The soundtrack for the highly anticipated film, The Hulk, will be released on Decca/UMG Soundtracks June 17, 2003.

Scoring the original soundtrack is famed composer, Danny Elfman, whose unmistakable music has been featured in several blockbuster movies, including Spider-Man, Batman and Men In Black II. The soundtrack also includes a new exclusive track, "Set Me Free," which was inspired by the film and recorded by an all-new super group featuring Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots; vocals), Slash (Guns N' Roses; guitar), Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses; bass), Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses; drums) and Dave Kushner (Suicidal Tendencies; guitar). This is the first-ever commercially available track from this new hard rock mega-group and can be downloaded exclusively on Apple's iTunes Music Store from June 8, 2003 through June 17, 2003.

The currently unnamed band was invited by director Ang Lee to see an early cut of the film, which inspired them to write a powerful song that would match the movie in both theme and intensity. Slash commented, "Writing songs is really cool, but if you get inspired to do it for a really good movie, the outcome is more fulfilling. We got a certain energy from watching the film, and we wanted to do something that would be really appropriate for it. The Hulk is a very dramatic version of the same stuff that we all go through. All this bottled-up tension is what the song's about, so it's a pretty good marriage: the theme of the song and what The Hulk is all about."

Added Scott Weiland, "Ang Lee had a lot of intensity about the movie and his art form." He met with the band following their screening and provided some additional ideas and inspiration for lyrics that would closely reflect the story of Bruce Banner and his struggle with his monstrous alter-ego, The Hulk.

Lending his dramatic musical talents to the film, Danny Elfman composed a riveting score highlighting the intensity of this compelling story. It is no surprise that Elfman was chosen to score The Hulk, given his previous work on a wide variety of projects including; Spider-Man, Red Dragon, Batman, Planet of the Apes, Men In Black II, Good Will Hunting, Mission Impossible, most of Tim Burton's movies, including Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice and cult classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. He is also the composer behind the infectious, quirky theme for The Simpsons. Tim Burton has described Elfman as "a real artist in the sense that he is like his music and his music is like him. He brings that intuitive excitement to a project. He brings that intuitive excitement to a project. He respects tradition without doing it exactly."

Always an active presence in the world of film world, Danny Elfman has been nominated for several Grammys, including Planet of the Apes for "Best Score Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media" and Batman and The Nightmare Before Christmas. He won a Grammy for "Best Instrumental Composition" for "The Batman Theme."

The Hulk was directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ride With The Devil, Sense and Sensibility). Lee's concept for the film adaptation of the Marvel Comic, The Hulk, combines all the elements of a blockbuster including the visual effects of an intensive Super Hero movie with the brooding romance and tragedy of Universal's classic horror films. Lee and his team have done an amazing job of depicting The Hulk as both a Super Hero and a monster while still managing to update and modernize the characters in the movie.

The movie stars Eric Bana (Black Hawk Down) as scientist Bruce Banner, whose inner demons transform him in the aftermath of a catastrophic experiment. Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) portrays Betty Ross, whose scientific genius unwittingly helps unleash The Hulk. Nick Nolte (The Thin Red Line) plays Banner's brilliant father, who passes on a tragic legacy to his son, and Sam Elliott (The Contender) portrays the commander of a top-secret military research center. Universal Pictures will release The Hulk on June 20 in theaters everywhere.

I also have a handful of new pics to post (one of them is in my sig...) ...when I have time to Ill post those along with any new stuff that comes up. Cheers

[thegroggman]

Whoa...Dark Horizons posted an interview with Bruce Banner himself:

Eric Bana is the latest Australian seeking Hollywood gold and The Hulk may well be his ticket to superstardom. PAUL FISCHER reports.

Question: Was it your butt or a double?

Answer: It was mine. It was mine. Doubles, I’m not at that point in my career yet where I could ask for one, so no. It was my freezing ass up in The Sequoias.

Question: How do you feel about the digital character building off of your performance?

Answer: I guess it’s something you’re not really- - on a day to day sense, you’re not really consciously aware of. You’re aware of the pressure of Bruce Banner having to work. Otherwise we’re all in trouble. But no, there were never a lot of conscious decisions I would make that would be about ‘Okay, well, later on when the Hulk does this…’ Pretty much, I have to service Bruce because I knew it was kind of the other way around. I knew that ILM would be chasing what I was doing in a lot of respects. And when I saw the film, that was the thing that I was most thrilled about, was I felt like they had totally managed to drag character into that CGI figure. That was what blew me away. Not only was it beautiful- - I thought the effects were actually beautiful in the film, but I thought that they had really actually put character into it.

Question: How much did you know about the Hulk?

Answer: I was very familiar with the television series. I’ve probably seen every episode and I wasn’t a huge comic book reader as a kid. So, I guess the television show was the only thing I was really familiar with.

Question: Did you test for the part?

Answer: No, I didn’t. Not in the traditional sense.

Question: Why do you think you got this role?

Answer: I’m too scared to ask Ang. I don’t know what transpired. I know it was a combination of things but I don’t exactly know. There were times in pre-production where I started to freak out and wanted to ask him. I thought no. I don’t need to be aware of it.

Question: Wasn’t it Chopper?

Answer: Yeah, I’m sure the stuff that I’d done in the past had a big bearing which was very flattering. It was kind of nice not having to audition obviously. I probably wouldn’t have got the part if I had to audition. So yeah, but I never really specifically said, ‘So, what elements are we looking for here?’ I just kind of didn’t want to know.

Question: How much will this change your career, or has it already?

Answer: Yeah, it has a bit. I mean, for the last, I guess, year and a half, two years, there’s been some wonderful opportunities and offers and I take them all very seriously and try to be very choosy. That, to me, is the greatest guarantee in what’s happening to me now and obviously it helped me find this incredible role that I’m doing now over on Troy. Yeah, it opens up doors and that, to me is where it’s at.

Question: Are there similarities between Chopper and Hulk?

Answer: Maybe a couple here and there. I guess the difference is I think Chopper is a more self-indulgent character. He’s more self-serving whereas Bruce is far, far more innocent. Even though I do have some obvious empathy for a lot of elements of Mark Read’s character, it was more kind of self serving whereas Bruce is not. It’s different. Bruce isn’t in control.

Question: What makes you angry?

Answer: Well, I have two children, so I’m usually Hulked out by eight a.m. probably two or three times.

Question: Are they old enough to see this movie?

Answer: No, no, they’re not. They’re very young so they won’t be seeing this for quite some time.

Question: Do they know what comic books are?

Answer: No. They’re not quite four and one year old, so they’re very young.

Question: Talk about working with Ang Lee?

Answer: Well, it was really incredible. I guess in this film it was intensely draining because not only were you trying to capture performance but then you had to do it a billion times because of the coverage he wanted to have to choose from. Which really takes a lot of effort and trust because as a performer, it’s not just about nailing it. It’s about nailing it from 40 angles, you know, just so he can choose to do things with the split screen and all the rest. So, it did help to have a lot of respect for the director on those days, as opposed to saying, ‘How many more freakin’ times?’ It did make those days a little easier.

Question: How many takes did he do?

Answer: There’s a scene with Sam Elliot and I were after I Hulk out and I’m at the dining room table with Jennifer, he comes with all these security guards and we sit on the couch and have a conversation, I think we did close to 140. Might’ve been more because then we picked up a couple more after.

Question: What were the differences take to take?

Answer: Energy. Energy was higher on some of them. It was a lot.

Question: Where did you get by take 140?

Answer: You go to so many different places as a person and as a performer. I remember at about 70, Sam and I losing it as they were setting up for another angle. I was sure they’d exhausted every possible camera angle and technique in the world, and I’d forgotten about the crane. I think Ang was almost ready to move on and the DOP came in and said, ‘Ang, I think we should do a high crane.’ ‘Yeah, we’ll do a high crane now.’

Question: Was this for the comic book panelling or just angles?

Answer: Yeah, well both.

Question: I don’t remember panelling in that scene.

Answer: The bastard didn’t use it.

Question: Does it concern you that half the performance is CGI?

Answer: No. Again, I think you’re just so anxious about and paranoid about delivering what you’re responsible for which for me was always just Bruce. And I knew that the rest was out of my hands. And I was quite comfortable with that. I actually liked the fact that even though you’re kind of the lead, there’s plenty there to take away from you which is kind of nice.

Question: Is this the first time you’ve played an American role?

Answer: No, I played an American in Black Hawk Down.

Question: Is it hard to do the accent?

Answer: Yes and No. It’s actually CGI in this movie. [joking] Yes and no. Luckily for me, with a sketch comedy background, I’ve had to do it for a long time. But I always figure there are two American accents. There’s the one that kind of sounds okay and there’s one that sounds perfect and I think if we’re going to come and take jobs, it needs to sound perfect. So yeah, I’m pretty conscious of it.

Question: You started in sketch comedy?

Answer: I started out in stand-up in 1990 and in about ‘92 moved across into television sketch comedy and did that for about six years. I did stand-up right up until like two years ago.

Question: Are you planning any comedic film projects?

Answer: Not at the moment, no. It all seems a bit too good to be true to sort of bridge the cross into drama and it’s a bit of a mystery here. The comedy background is kind of like having two lives. Over there, they come and they go, ‘How do you get away with dramatic stuff.’ Here, they say, ‘Oh, you don’t look funny.’ It’s perfect.

Question: How much prep time did you have for Hulk?

Answer: We had a bit of rehearsal. We sat down and did some specific rehearsals for a couple of weeks leading up to the production starting. But I had a lot of time to prepare. I had deliberately not taken any other projects so I’d have the time. So, I probably had maybe five months to get ready for it. Back home, and I got here about a month and a half before we started filming.

Question: How much of your life was taken up by Hulk?

Answer: Well, I prepped at home for probably four or five months. Had about a month and a half here before we started shooting and then the shoot was five and a half months. So I guess all up, it’s almost like a year long job. They apparently tell me some movies get shot in eight to 10 weeks. I haven’t found one of those yet, so it’s still a mystery.

Question: What elements did you like most about the movie, the action or emotion?

Answer: Obviously, the acting, I think all the performances are great and I’m really thrilled with that. I like the depth. I think it’s different to anything we’ve seen before and that’s what I’m most excited about.

Question: How are you preparing your family for your meteoric rise?

Answer: It’s actually quite simple. We live back home in Australia, in Melbourne and I’ve been known at home for a long time and we’re able to live a very, very normal existence that doesn’t really change. I mean, it changes professionally obviously, but personally, to be honest, my theory is it’s as much as you want to bite off and I’m not interested in biting too much off.

Question: How long have you been married?

Answer: About six years.

Question: How did you meet?

Answer: We actually met through work. My wife is a publicist at a television network that I was working at. We were friends for a few years and then we became partner.

Question: Her name?

Answer: Her name’s Rebecca.

Question: Talk about working with Nick Nolte.

Answer: It was probably the biggest highlight for me. He was quite literally one of my favourite actors of all time and so when I got the phone call saying, ‘You know, Nick Nolte’s playing your father’ I literally had to pick myself off the floor. And the scenes with him, they were the most fun even though they were emotionally the most traumatic, they were also the most fun because there’s an element to Nick that makes you feel like you’re in a sand pit and you’re four years old. Really, he just makes acting what it’s meant to be and never lets you forget that we’re here and we’re playing. Yes, it’s serious and yes, it’s dramatic, but let’s play. So, as a result, you both end up in this place that’s kind of different. You just get taken away and it’s just awesome. Some of my favourite days on this film were stuff I had with Nick.

Question: Any Nolte anecdotes?

Answer: I remember one day he came in and he had an oxygen tank. And he was taking hits of oxygen from this oxygen bottle. I remember looking at him thinking, ‘Nick, what on earth are you doing with this oxygen bottle? Is that really necessary?’ And he turned it off and looked at me and said, ‘Well, not really, but it makes them think you’re crazy.’ [INHALES] And he’s right, isn’t he?

Question: How did you lose your Chopper weight?

Answer: It’s very boring. Lots of exercise and lots of boring food, unfortunately. I’ve discovered the secret to weight loss which is the fact that there’s no secret.

Question: What other comic book movies were you offered?

Answer: There was never a situation where someone said, ‘You can play this, this, this, this and this.’ I know that there’s been kind of speculation about it but I met with Avi Arad sometime before this project came up and he told me about the projects that were coming up and asked me if I had any interest in doing this kind of work and I said maybe. Then, this came up and I said definitely. So, it wasn’t specifically like I was directly offered any roles that other people have [SOUNDS LIKE: since now played]. I wouldn’t like to take anything away from them.

Question: What was your stand-up routine like?

Answer: It was pretty- - I’d describe it as funny, of course. It was kind of laid back and anecdotal.

Question: Stuff about your life?

Answer: Yeah, it was kind of storytelling. I was never a big joke writer, so it was more kind of storytelling interspersed with some voices and characters and stuff like that, which is why I ended up in the sketch comedy. Someone had seen my act and said you should really try out for this sketch comedy program because it would be a good fit for you. He did then go on to say that you’re not very good at stand-up comedy. So yeah, it was something that happened early on and I loved it. I do miss it occasionally, definitely.

Question: You play Hector in Troy?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So you win over Brad?

Answer: Depends on which Iliad you’ve read.

Question: That’s The Iliad.

Answer: No, it’s the other way around.

Question: He has Achilles Heel.

Answer: Should I spoil it?

Question: Are you nervous about being forever associated with The Hulk?

Answer: Yeah, I guess you- - I mean, I probably take my choices too seriously, so yeah, I did think about it obviously. In one sense, it’s what you guys call a no-brainer, but in the other sense, yes I do definitely think about everything very seriously. So, yeah, it was a consideration but I’m more than comfortable with it, especially after seeing the film because I think there’s so much there that takes it away from you, that I’m comfortable with that.

Question: You’re happy with the movie?

Answer: Yeah, yeah, thrilled.

Question: Met or exceeded your expectations?

Answer: Pretty much met what I’d dreamt the movie could have been. I didn’t honestly expect it to be that. I don’t think you can, but then to see it be what it is, I was really thrilled.

Question: Have you worked with Brad yet?

Answer: Yeah, we’re nearly halfway through with production.

Question: Signed for Hulk sequels?

Answer: You’ll have to wait and see.

[thegroggman]

Well...I didnt want to put all of this in one thread...so heres some more.

The first actual review of the screening!!!!!

A review of The Hulk
written by Mike Manning More reviews by this user
5/30/2003 10:06:53 PM
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I saw this as a sneak preview double feature. Critics may enjoy the action and find fault with the story, but I would say that Ang Lee's Hulk is now made superhero actions films go to a totally new level. Thru the campy 60's Hulk and 70's Bixby versions. I always felt that this character would be very difficult to portray on film cause of the unreal massive brutality that the Hulk is. I always felt he was tamed for TV. The story to me was the important factor and Lee doesn't take long to get to it. Erwin & Bana's protayal of Banner reminded me a bit of Bixby's sad portral the first year of TV's hulk. Which was probably Bixby's great start. His humanity and great sadness is portrayed very well and they honor Bixby's memory, but make no mistake Erwin takes it to another level. He's the perfect set up for Ang Lee's Hulk, who explodes on to the screen and the brutality and special effects of IL&M are so well done. He doesn't look fake at all. Without spoiling much the real emphasis is the constant battles between Father & Son and Father and Daughter. Nolte (Sad to see him in such bad shape, but it fit) and Connely enhance the story. Though the creation of the Hulk is somewhat not what we are used to and Lee changed any familiar stories we are used to to make it his own to his credit. I did have no problem keeping up. Connely is definitly a force on film. Lee dells deep into the Jeckyl and Hyde theme and makes sure both characters are well defined in personality and choice. They both want playing time if you know what I mean. Even though the HULK's rage is what we see. It enhances and that's Lee's great tactic. It builds and Builds. The film's action sequences are so booming, so epic in scale and so brutal that it is unparalled. I've never seen sequences like this one. Lee has raised the bar and it won't be long before we see epic battles on screen between hero's & villians, heros and heros, and so forth on these scaled proportions. They are starting to get Comic films right. The ending leaves room for speculation, but the HULK doesn't disappoint. My wife and I enjoyed it and so will you. My Grade B Plus...

EXCELLENT!!!!!!! Enjoy!!!!!

And now...the HULK pics:



gotta go to the next post...

[thegroggman]

And theres these also...


And my personal fave...

[thegroggman]

*removed*

[thegroggman]

I have some new stuff to add...but Im pretty tired...so Ill just make this a *bump*

[DarkBlizzard]

Dang.......thats a like REALLY nice quality pic...I'll have to go see Hulk. I hope its good....and once again....nice quaility pics

[thegroggman]

Yesiree bob...they are some great pics, Im hoping that by the end of this week Ill have some new ones to add...but for now those will have to do. The one that I said was my favorite though...gosh...the HULK so freaking exausted in the pic...looks like all that battling in the desert wears him out.