The following was originally posted on Canada.com:

Summer is almost here and the stars are coming out in Canada.

The biggest movie filming this summer in Toronto is The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth. Production is scheduled to go until Oct. 24 with Louis Leterrier (The Transporter) at the helm.

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The following was originally posted on HollywoodReporter.com:

William Hurt has joined the all-star cast of Marvel Studios' "The Incredible Hulk."

The movie, which Louis Leterrier is directing, sees Bruce Banner/Hulk on the run, trying to avoid capture long enough to cure the condition that turns him into a monster. Hurt will play Gen. Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, the man who has dedicated his life to capturing the Hulk -- and who also is the father of Banner's love interest, Betty Ross.

"Hulk" is shaping up to having one of the stronger comic book movie casts in quite a while as Hurt joins two-time Oscar nominee Edward Norton, who is playing Banner, Liv Tyler as Betty and Tim Roth as villain Emil Blonsky/the Abomination.

Zak Penn wrote the latest big-screen adventure of the green goliath, which Universal Pictures is distributing.

The film is being produced by Avi Arad, Gale Anne Hurd and Kevin Feige, while Jim Van Wyck, David Maisel, Ari Arad and Stan Lee executive produce. Shooting is slated to begin this summer in Toronto.

Hurt, who won an Academy Award for best actor for his work in 1985's "Kiss of the Spider Woman," has been nominated for the golden statuette multiple times, most recently for "A History of Violence." He recently co-starred in "The Good Shepherd" and "Mr. Brooks" and next appears in the comedy "Noise" and the drama "Vantage Point."

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The following was originally posted on IESB.net:

Yesterday the IESB, along with a group of online press, visited the set of Iron Man and had the opportunity to talk Kevin about the Marvel’s upcoming slate.

Kevin Feige: We’ve got the Incredible Hulk that will go into production, the day that [Iron Man] goes into post on July 9th, Hulk starts production in Toronto…We’ve just cast William Hurt, we announced that today, I will be headed to Toronto and the end of next week.

Q: How is this Hulk, the Incredible Hulk, going to be different from the first one?

KF: The Hulk movie will be different from the first one because this one will be good. (laughter) I really was looking, and we’re joking about it, but there were certain elements from the first film that I am very proud of and there are other elements that I am not. And the cast of the first film was spectacular, it was a great cast, you couldn’t ask for a better cast to come together than it did on that first movie, Eric Bana was great and frankly they were all great. But, in looking to reboot and start the franchise fresh and new, we wanted to start with a clean slate and it wasn’t, frankly, Eric Bana that I was looking at and saying we need to sort of improve upon, it was Bill Bixby. Because Bill Bixby is really, what I believe most of the fans and most of the audience have looked to when they think of Bruce Banner, when they think of that classic Hulk storyline. And I was thinking, who is that today? Who can get that kind of empathy across and who is just a great actor in any medium? And we started talking about someone like Ed Norton. It’s your dream in movies like this when you go from, “hey it would be great to have somebody like this!” And end up actually getting that person you were basing everything on.

Q: Did you think having the panel style of storytelling in that movie took away from the story?

KF: I don’t think it took away from the story I think it was very cool. I don’t think to make a comic book movie you have to have comic book panels going around. I think Spider-Man, Sam did an amazing job translating it and there weren’t any panels floating around. But, yes I thought he and his editorial staff did a great job on some pretty nifty transitions.

Q: What’s the budget going to be for Hulk?

KF:…the budget on Hulk is still coming together. Still coming together and you start July 9th you ask? Yes, it’s still coming together. (laughter) But, we’ll spend what it takes, we’ll spend the amount of money it takes to bring our man to life and the money it takes to bring Hulk to life.

Q: You’ve partnered up again with Universal to distribute, was that a contractual obligation or a choice?

KF: Part of it was that, part of it was continuity and energy that can be involved with NBC Universal. Mainly thought it was based on, yes, the relationship from the first film and certain agreements on getting the rights back.

Q: Hulk, when it comes to getting it out to the populace, how are you guys going to convince them to forget the last movie, this is the Hulk movie you should see. Are you going to let that stay in Universal’s hands and let them figure out how to market it?

KF: Certainly that’s their job on the film, to market it and to sell it. We have a lot of participation in that but I think it’s the same as with any movie. I think the casting announcements that we’ve given have given everybody pause, certainly looking at it in a new light as something interesting and worth a second look, I think that is a big part of it, I also think when people see a kick ass trailer it will change their mind. And when they see the redesign of the character and see the new texture and the new tone and the new vibe and the fun and the action and the smashing, that that will change everything. It’s very similar to, it’s any movie. I always thought Transformers would be a really cool film, I played with the toys as a kid. But, when I saw the first couple spots I said, I don’t know, but the most recent spots I saw I said, “buy me a ticket now!” And it’s that same kind of idea.

Q: Do you have a rating in mind for the Hulk, PG-13 or PG?

KF: PG-13.

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The following was originally posted on The International Herald Tribune:

Earlier this month David Maisel, the newly minted chairman of Marvel Studios, was discussing plot points in his Beverly Hills office with Edward Norton, the Academy Award-nominated actor whom he has cast as the star of a new version of "The Incredible Hulk."

"It's a nice environment," Maisel said the next day, in an interview in that same office. "Some guys in their 30s sitting around and talking about a script, planning the movie. Edward is so into the Hulk."

No longer content to hand the actual movie making and most of the profits to the studios, Maisel and Marvel are able to go ahead with movies of their choosing at budgets as high as $165 million, backed by $525 million of financing.

"I don't think there's been a new studio making $100 million movies since DreamWorks," he said. "We're going Hollywood, but in a smart way."

Whether Maisel's claim proves true or merely another example of Hollywood hubris will be determined over the next several years, beginning in May and June of 2008 with the release of its first two self-financed films, "Iron Man" (starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow) and "The Incredible Hulk." Maisel plans to release as many as 10 self-financed films in the next five years.

By making his own movies from other Marvel characters, Maisel hopes to transform his division of Marvel Entertainment into a true filmmaking brand, maintaining control from script to release, keeping all the profits for the company and building a film library, while using someone else's capital.

Paramount will market and distribute the movies, for a fee. (Universal, which produced 2003's "Hulk" by the director Ang Lee but sold back the rights to Marvel after its disappointing box-office performance, will handle the sequels.)

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The following was originally posted on NewYorkBusiness.com:

Marvel Entertainment Inc., a licensing, publishing, toy making and film production company, said Monday it signed new licensing deals with Fruit of the Loom and Crocs Inc.

Fruit of the Loom will create children's underwear lines using several Marvel characters including Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk.

Under its deal with Crocs, the footwear company will develop a line of Crocs footwear featuring Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four.

Marvel also extended an existing multi-year agreement with Kids Headquarters to expand Marvel-branded apparel to include merchandise based on its upcoming Incredible Hulk movie.

Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

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The following was originally posted on WizardUniverse.com:

Check out Wizard’s photo below of “The Incredible Hulk” from the New York Licensing Show. A variation of this image first appeared earlier this month as an advertisement in many of Marvel's comic books.

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The following was originally posted on UGO.com:

Last week, UGO was invited to the set of Paramount and Marvel Film's upcoming Iron Man movie (along with just about every other online media outlet ever created) to tour the sets, interview principle actors and get a pre-Comic Con sense of what to expect from one of this year's most anticipated comic-book adaptations. Though the bulk of what we saw and heard is still embargoed until September, we "were" given a green-light to post details on upcoming Marvel projects, given to us on set by Marvel Films president Kevin Feige.

The Incredible Hulk:

The Incredible Hulk will go into production on July 9th in Toronto, with William Hurt cast in the role of General Thunderbolt. Feige was also able to confirm a PG-13 rating.

Ultimate Avengers:

Last but not least, Feige doesn't rule out an Ultimate Avengers film in the near future. According to him, "what [prevented] certain characters from crossing over in the past [was] the fact they were all divvied up by different studios, and there [were] big giant gates between them. They couldn't play in the same sand box, and now that we have Hulk and Thor and Cap and Iron Man, it would certainly indicate to me it would be fun to see them play in the same sand box. But certainly we're introducing them and building them in there own franchises first." Theoretically, that could mean an Ultimate Avengers script in the works as early as 2009. Righteous.

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The following was originally posted on Intelligencier.ca:

He's big, he's green, and he's coming to CFB Trenton. And while he's there, things are bound to get smashed.

On July 26 and 27, crews filming the new movie The Incredible Hulk will arrive at the air base.

In a telephone interview from Toronto Thursday, executive producer Jim Van Wyck told The Intelligencer this incarnation of the superhero is a "total re-invention" from that seen in 2003's The Hulk.

"The Hulk is unbelievably amazing compared to the Hulk in the first film," Van Wyck said. "He's not the chlorophyll green he was in the first film."

Created by comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Hulk is one of the pillars of the Marvel Comics empire.

Brilliant scientist Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk, a powerful, rage-filled behemoth, when his emotions rise. The result is always chaos.

Van Wyck said everything about the new film, which is set for a June 13, 2008 release, is different. He said the new approach is "completely intentional."

"It's a standalone movie with respect to the first movie and respect to the TV series," said Van Wyck, whose credits include work on 16 Blocks, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Free Willy, Swordfish and The Babe.

"It's probably more loyal to the TV series than the first one was, but it is definitely an original."

"We've got an absolutely fantastic group of actors."

The Incredible Hulk stars Edward Norton, who reportedly turned down the role of Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, next year's sequel to Batman Begins, to play Banner. He replaces Eric Bana.

Banner's fellow scientist Betty Ross is portrayed by Liv Tyler, who takes over from Jennifer Connelly.

The Hulk's arch-enemy, Betty's father Gen. Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, is played by William Hurt. Tim Roth has been recruited to play Emil Blonsky, also known as the monstrous Abomination.

Hurt and Roth are the only stars expected to be on location in Trenton, Van Wyck said.

"True to the comic books, Gen. Ross's lifelong obsession has become hunting down and capturing the Hulk. And Trenton fills in as his base of operation."

Van Wyck said 15 of the shoot's projected 18 weeks will be shot in Canada, mostly in Toronto and Hamilton. One week is devoted to New York, the other two in Rio de Janeiro.

He said the scenes involving Trenton are set at a secret military base that is never named.

"I think everybody that knows Trenton will recognize Trenton," he said, adding a CC-130 Hercules kept at the base will be a key part of the shooting.

"The folks at 8 Wing have been most gracious," he said. "One of the things I'm actually most excited about is I've asked them to explore the possibility of having the folks who work on the base there work as extras."

However, he said, that possibility is still being discussed.

Base public affairs officer Capt. Nicole Meszaros said staff are "excited" about playing host to the Hulk.

"I've learned a lot in terms of what it takes to put together a major movie like this," Meszaros said, adding base personnel are also glad that about 150 crew members will be staying in local hotels for a few nights.

Van Wyck said some of the required shots involve aircraft.

"We're going to shoot inside the retired C-130, and then we have some exterior scenes to play as well."

A few Huey helicopters will be brought in for the shoot, Van Wyck added.

The Hulk himself won't be seen in Trenton, he said, since the creature is entirely computer-generated by a team working under visual effects supervisor and co-producer Kurt Williams.

The Hollywood veteran said details of the script are top secret.

"All I can tell you is he's still being pursued," he said. "The Hulk is a good soul. He's a defensive creature.

"It's just when he's attacked that he responds ... The response is usually fairly devastating, and that's why he wants to find a cure: to rid himself of this thing that he becomes."

Louis Leterrier is directing the movie, and Van Wyck crew members are looking forward to having the "really talented" Leterrier at the helm.

"We're all excited about that opportunity."

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