‘The Incredible Hulk’ a boxoffice smash
Hollywood Newsroom is now Buzz Newsroom! Visit and bookmark our new site. Buzz is bigger and better, including sports, world news, gadgets and the entertainment news that you're used to. Same staff, just more stuff! Why Fark, Drudge and Huffington when you can Buzz!?“The Incredible Hulk” opened more than credibly for Universal and Marvel this weekend, as the big green guy rung up an estimated $54.5 million in opening-frame green stuff.
The performance outpaced most prerelease projections and carried the high-profile remake to the top of the domestic boxoffice rankings. Family favorite “Kung Fu Panda” from Paramount and DreamWorks Animation dropped just 43% from its week-earlier opening grosses to grab second place during the Father’s Day frame with $34.3 million and a $118 million cume, while M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fi horror release “The Happening” also bowed better than anticipated with $30.5 million in third place.
Rated PG-13, “Incredible Hulk” follows in the oversized footsteps of the $62.1 million bow of a 2003 predecessor, simply titled “Hulk.”
But that film, which was widely disparaged by critics and fans alike, dropped precipitously after it opened and only rung up a total of $132.2 million overall domestically. Executives hope to do better with the remake, even if the taint of the first film hampered its prerelease marketing until a late-breaking surge in fan interest.
“Marvel took what they knew from the 2003 ‘Hulk’ and made an audience-pleasing film,” Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said. “And Universal marketing overcame the challenges and delivered the audience.”
Film audiences were 60% male, with 52% ages 25 and older.
“At this point all I can say is stay tuned,” Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel demurred of the prospect for “Incredible Hulk” sequels.
Still, a franchise sequel now appears mostly just a matter of timing. Marvel already is committed to a slate of projects for the next few years, but by 2012 execs hope to be green-lighting as many as three productions a year.
The Hulk character will likely next be seen on the big screen in Marvel’s movie adaptation of the ensemble super hero comic “The Avengers,” set for summer 2011.
Louis Leterrier (”Transporter”) was the director on the latest Hulk film, taking a more action-oriented approach than Ang Lee followed in the brooding original, and Edward Norton replaced Eric Bana as Bruce Banner/Hulk to notch his career-best bow with the remake.
- from THR