Genre: Action/Superhero/Comic Book Adaptation.
Studio:
Universal Pictures.
Production Company:
Unknown.
Project Phase: Development Hell.
Who's In It:
Lynn 'Red' Williams; Gregory Sporleder (Novak).
Who's Making It:
Jonathan Hensleigh (Director); Gail Anne Hurd (Producer); Jonathan Hensleigh
(Screenwriter); based upon the Marvel Comics character The Incredible Hulk.
Premise: When scientist David Bruce Banner was subjected to an intense burst of gamma rays, he found that his anger transformed him into a savage green-skinned beast -- the Incredible Hulk.
Release Date: Unknown.
Developments:
March, 1998... Universal confirms this project is on-hold.
August, 1997... Jonathan Hensleigh lands the director's chair for the feature.
Comments: Although the majority of the general public know of the Hulk from the popular 1970's television series, the comic book Hulk has gone through a number of changes. He hasn't been a mindless brute for a decade, and has gone through marriage counselling as well as his share of villains. It is unknown which incarnation Hurd will chose to develop for her Incredible Hulk flick.
Rumors: Unknown.
Scoop Feedback:
July 31, 1996... This scooper heard that regular comic book scribe Peter David submitted a screenplay, but it was eventually rejected. [Scoop submitted anonymously.]
October 29, 1996... This scooper reports that the new Hulk will be an full CGI creation. [Scoop submitted anonymously.]
November 21, 1996... On a recent Howard Stern show where TV Hulk Lou Ferrigno was speaking about his days on the show, Ferrigno said he had been contacted about taking part in the film. Ferrigno wasn't sure if he would be featured in a cameo or actually playing the Hulk. Apparently the producers were considering making the movie Hulk 10-feet tall, in which case Ferrigno wouldn't be the monster. [Scoop handed in by 'Cromwell'.]
March 4, 1997... Screenwriter Zak Penn (co-writer of Last Action Hero) is the most recent writer to hand in a draft. [Scoop supplied by an anonymous source.]
May 4, 1997... Joe Johnson is now the director; depending which source you believe, Michael France (who wrote the Fantastic Four script) or Jonathan Hensleigh (who wrote what became the Die Hard 3 script), is the screenwriter. [Scoops supplied by 'widgett', Greg Dean Schmitz, Christian, 'frankie', 'jstevens', 'gield', 'Dignan' and anonymously.]
One person wrote to us that tests have been made, rendering the Hulk a fully 100% CGI creation. [Scoop sent in anonymously.]
May 18, 1997... Liston Johnson is a reporter for the Reuters news agency and had the opportunity to interview Hulk co-creator Stan Lee. Lee was present at a media event announcing plans for a new theme park that will feature Marvel Super Heroes in Orlando, Florida. According to what Lee told Johnson, Universal's The Incredible Hulk property had just been fast-tracked and will be released next year. There were two reasons given for this rush to develop the property:
First, of all the Marvel Comics characters, the Hulk is thought to have the greatest "break out" potential. Whether this is Universal's belief that the Hulk is the best-known Marvel character, or the one that hasn't received the same attention from the fanbase the X-Men and Spider-Man properties is unclear.
Second, Universal wants to make the film in tandem with a Hulk ride at their new Florida theme park. They want at least one Marvel character to have something like the pull of a Batman or Jurassic Park ride, and they figure the Hulk is the ideal candidate for the job.
Lee said the movie Hulk will result from Bruce Banner's (not David) experimentation with gamma radiation, but will drop the gamma bomb device from the comic book history. [A great scoop courtesy of Liston Johnson.]
May 19, 1997... One savvy comic reader lets us know that the scientist's proper name is Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, who goes by the first name of Bruce. The name was changed to David for the CBS TV show. Here the scooper provides an answer: the producer thought the name was, in the words of the scooper, "gay" and the said producer didn't want to use an alliterative comic book name like Peter Parker and Clark Kent. [Sent in anonymously.]
July 21, 1997... At the San Diego Comic Convention, CA Director Patrick Sauriol asked Hulk comic writer Peter David if the rumors were true about his story pitch to Universal. David did indeed pitch a proposal for a Hulk feature storyline to producer Gale Anne Hurd, but after handing in his work, the production team opted to move the film's story in another direction. [Reported by Patrick Sauriol.]
July 27, 1997... An anonymous scooper tells us that the show's producers are considering exploring the use of Jason Henderson's new novel, Incredible Hulk: The Abominations. [Sent in anonymously.]
"I wouldn't be surprised at all if this movie makes it by the Summer of 1999. I have a feeling Universal will use this movie to heavily promote their new $1 billion Islands of Adventure theme park and especially the Marvel Superheroes Island and Hulk Coaster. The new theme park is set to open in the Summer of '99, so I'm expecting the movie around then. Although there is already a TON of marketing clout behind this new park, including Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, and possibly the X-Men rides. Getting this movie out before the park opens may very well be the vehicle Universal wants to usher in a few million more people to the park." [Thought dropped by 'larax2'.]
August 12, 1997... Today, many of the major entertainment wire services report Jonathan Hensleigh gets the job to direct the Hulk feature. On the 5th, someone told us that this was a done deal...but we were a little late in getting the info up. But since the scooper's prediction turned out to be correct, then the other part of their message must be correct as well, which is: Hensleigh is the current beau of Hulk producer Gale Anne Hurd. Love amongst the gamme-irradiated tulips...*sigh*... The scooper also reports a scheduled October '97 production date for the hoped-for Summer 1998 blockbuster.
Arizona seems to be the state of choice for the production, and there'll be at least two, if not three other villains for the Hulk to fight. Inside word indicates that the script harkens back to the older (and more familiar to the mainstream audience who know of the green hero) savage brute Hulk state. ILM is the front-runner to handle the CGI effects. [The really important scoop was sent anonymously - sorry we goofed. Those who already told us what we were late posting on the page included: 'skhan', Pramod Kalapa, 'prime', 'Lillepus01', 'GodEater', 'susana', ' "Rick Jones" ', 'pancakes2' and 'widgett'. Because we were late getting the scoop, for punishment we're supposed to sit near the Hulk after he eats a can of chili.]
September 30, 1997... We've been sitting back with our feet up on the table not reporting the rumor that Johnny Depp has been cast as Doctor Bruce Banner because...well, not just that we couldn't confirm it, but that it just...didn't sit right with us. It could still be true, but Mr. Hensleigh and Ms. Hurd are difficult people to get a hold of. [Thanks to about, oh, one million Hulk fans for the news.]
So who knows if Depp has been cast? Nothing official has been announced by any parties associated with the picture. But we got an interesting scoop that stood out from the rest of the Depp/Banner emails we've been receiving. A scooper writes to us that actor Jeff Daniels has been chosen to portray Banner in the film, not Depp, and promises us more info as it comes. [Sent in by 'Dr. Peeper'.]
Meanwhile, 'Vytor the Loud' tells us that the producers are moving away from the gamma bomb origin and instead coming up with a 'genetic engineering gone awry' misfortune for our Dr. Banner. Hmmm, we thinks to ourselves...hmmm. [Scoop sent in by 'Vytor the Loud'.]
And then someone adds James Belushi's name to the mix - to portay the actual Hulk himself. (We're just including this to show we've got a sense of humor too.) [Sent anonymously.]
October 21, 1997... Word is the flick is to be simply titled 'Hulk'. Regarding the film's beastial star, right now the plan is to use two completely CGI models to realize the Hulk; a 'small' 9-foot Hulk and a 12-foot, more ferocious form of the gamma-irradiated doctor. [Thanks to 'Chance'.]
November 2, 1997... And so it begins. The first actors to be cast in the film are Lynn 'Red' Williams (Mortal Kombat Annihilation) and Gregory Sporleder (The Rock). Willians' character mutates into a hybrid of ant, beetle and human; Sporleder character is named Novak. Both actors will portray two of the three antagnosists in the picture, escaped criminals who are also gamma-irradiated creations. [Reported by anonymous sources.]
On other Hulk news, The Hollywood Reporter, via Mania, tells us that the budget for this will be just "north of 100 million" and should see the theaters in 1999. [Reported by 'Widgett'; originally appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.]
November 4, 1997... Leading the pack, Todd Viziri's ultracool Visual Effects Headquarters web site broke the news that ILM has been awarded the job of doing Hulk's FX. [Reported by 'Gnome', 'Mr. Cynic' and the VFX.]
November 6, 1997... A person who's working on the Armageddon set (which just wrapped up shooting in Texas and is now in Florida at Cape Canaveral) whispers something that's really cool, and that we hope is really happening. While walking past actor Steve Buscemi (who was dressed up to the nine's in his neat-looking Armageddon spacesuit threads), the scooper overheard the actor on the phone to his agent. Buscemi was talking about the Hulk project -- which is currently without a lead actor for the role of Dr. Banner.
We know for a fact that some Armageddon people browse by here from time to time, so it's to you we'd like to say: Steve Buscemi is Dr. Bruce Banner! Grab him while you can! Do whatever it takes to make him sign the contract! If that happens -- we're there opening night guys, $8 and change clenched in our hands, anticipation etched upon our faces. Steve - you da man! [Thanks to the equally irradiated 'Doc Samson' for the scoop.]
December 23, 1997... For those out there intersted in seeing the Green Goliath's forthcoming roller-coaster event, Kevin Ryan Teufer has snapped some photos of the project-in-construction and scanned 'em in on his website for the world to see. The page takes some time to completely download, but you can click right here to visit the site. [Thanks to 'Widgett' and an anonymous source for the tip.]
February 5, 1998... Our scooper tells us the pic starts lensing two months from now in Arizona...['DeMzaLF'.] ... but we did overhear talk that the project had dropped dead last week.
March 4, 1998... Universal announced yesterday that this project will not meet its April start date; indeed, we were told by Universal that the film is on-hold "for the short-term" while Hensleigh re-writes the script. Unofficially, nearly $20 million has been spent on Hulk R&D. The biggest factor against the project right now seems to be it's estimated $100 million price tag if the current draft is filmed. AICN has reported that the project is "dead", but our sources report it's on "critcal life-support, but not dead yet." [Reported by 'Doc Sampson' (who was the first), 'A Celluloid Life', 'kavalyr', 'The Harem Handyman', Bill Watcher, 'rmoxide', 'The Gline', 'number 42', and anonymously.]
But this scooper said it is dead, at least when he bumped into someone involved with it a few weeks ago. "They spent almost 18 million in pre-production. Oliver Wood was even on payroll for two weeks.( They don't hire a DP till they know the picture is a go.) But Universal has pulled the plug. Another srike for Marvel." [Thanks to 'Bazooka Joe'.]