Norton Responds To Hulk Rumors

Norton Responds to Hulk Rumors
from Slice of Sci Fi 

"In recent weeks, rumors have abounded that Incredible Hulk star Edward Norton was unhappy with the final cut of the upcoming potential summer blockbuster. 

Last week, the New York Times reported on the potential for the second Hulk movie to collapse under the pressure being placed on it to invigorate a franchise that stumbled a bit out of the gate. Now, Entertainment Weekly has a look at things behind the scenes of the next installment in the Hulk franchise. 

EW spoke to director Louis Leterrier who said he and Norton hit it off from the first day on set and that there were no issues with Marvel during the shoot. After the shoot was over, Letterier and Norton wanted a longer (135 minute) more cerebral cut of the film while Marvel opted for a shorter (120 minute) more action-driven cut. Marvel won the argument but news got out that there was a dispute between the two parties. 

Now Norton (who wants the film to be a hit) has come out and issued a statement saying that the Marvel cut, while not what he wanted, will be a better commercial success than his.

“Every good movie gets forged through collaboration, and different ideas among people who are all committed and respect the validity of each other’s opinions is the heart of filmmaking,” said Norton. “Regrettably, our healthy process, which is and should be a private matter, was misrepresented publicly as a ‘dispute,’ seized on by people looking for a good story, and has been distorted to such a degree that it risks distracting from the film itself, which Marvel, Universal and I refuse to let happen. ”

“It has always been my firm conviction that films should speak for themselves…” he added. “Our focus has always been to deliver the Hulk that people have been waiting for and keep the worldwide love affair with the big green guy going strong.”

Movie-goers will get to decide if Marvel made the right call when The Incredible Hulk opens in theaters in June. And with two cuts of the film, it’s probably a good bet we’ll get both on DVD in the future."