i hope they can make one before avengers 2 and i'd love for liv tyler to reprise her role as Betty Ross and Hurt as Ross
i hope they can make one before avengers 2 and i'd love for liv tyler to reprise her role as Betty Ross and Hurt as Ross
Marvel execs are notoriously tightlipped and no formal announcements have been made. But now President of Consumer Products Paul Gitter tells Forbes magazine that he and his colleagues have been “pleasantly surprised by the phenomenal response” to the Hulk already – even before The Avengersopened. “His sales are up in a major way. We repositioned him from where he was always misunderstood to now depicting him in a more heroic and aspirational manner.” Now fanboys have their first look at Mark Ruffalo’s iteration of the Hulk and they like what they see. Gitter says Marvel “will spin him off to a stand-alone program next year,” which Forbes says is “presumably supported by another big budget franchise movie in 2015. The entertainment studio is also exploring ways to promote Hulk as a ‘corporate icon’ similar to MetLife’s usage of Peanuts’ Snoopy, with Hulk’s image conveying a message about channeling strength to overcome workplace challenges.” This is a marked change from what Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told Collider recently. “…Every time I see a good take or a good storyline or read some good pages, I think, ‘Oh should we make a movie about this?’ But with the Hulk we’re gonna play it very carefully. We had varying degrees of success on those first two movies, so we’re not gonna say, ‘Oh we did it! Another one!’ We’re gonna be smart about it and play it out. There are no plans right now to do another Hulk. Hulk might be just the special guest in Avengers movies, who knows?” Feige also told The Huffington Post that Marvel put “everything they had and everything they were going for into Hulk’s appearance in Avengers” so it’s “mission accomplished at this point.” According to Collider, a Hulk TV series is in development by Guillermo del Toro and Battlestar Galactica producer David Eick that would develop the original story of Bruce Banner in his mid-20s, and Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel Television, recently confirmed that the live-action show is in active development at ABC.
Also look for Marvel to “synergize” the Avengers into a “multi-platform brand that can live 365 days a year,” Gitter says. To that end, Marvel is introducing digital initiatives, new print and comic book titles, and The Avengers animated TV series in 2013, in addition to the threequel and sequel films in the works. Although the Black Widow isn’t yet scheduled for her own stand-alone movie, the character’s lifestyle will inspire a collection of athletic gear and beauty products. As for whether Marvel superheroes will join Disney theme parks or star on Broadway, Gitter doesn’t directly confirm these initiatives, only stating that Marvel is “exploring all land-based opportunities, including stand-alone shows and attractions.”
Geoff Boucher said:The Hulk will appear in his third feature film next year when Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo gets green in Joss Whedons The Avengers. On Sunday, at the final day of Comic-Con International, fans got their first sense of the characters new visage thanks to a Marvel promotional poster that depicts both the angry giant as well as Ruffalos Bruce Banner, shown in sad silhouette. I caught up with Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios and producer of The Avengers, to talk about the new green movement.
Geoff Boucher said:GB: Will we see anything substantially different in the visual realization of the Hulk?
KF: Well, I dont know about substantially different. It will be as different as The Incredible Hulk was from Ang Lees Hulk in terms of its look and design, but it is Hulk. The image we released on the last day of Comic-Con which got a tremendous amount of attention and I was very pleased about is a very good representation of what hes going to look like. Hulk is Hulk. Were not going to reinvent the wheel.
GB: How big will he be? Thats been a major variable through the years in the comics and the two films as well.
KF: Hell be about the same size he was in The Incredible Hulk [which was about 9 feet tall] or maybe a little bit smaller. His muscles wont be quite as cut. We figure hes been the Hulk now for a few years and [his physique is changing]. Hes not as cut or as ripped as he was in The Incredible Hulk. The most important thing is that face. As you can already see in that concept painting, it is more than any Hulk thats ever been done in live action a Hulk that lets you see the actor in there. You will be able to see Ruffalo in there. That was a big revelation for us. Its just a concept painting, but in that you can see the [influence of Marvel Comics pioneer and original Hulk artist Jack] Kirby, as people have already pointed out, but also, and equally important in this case, Ruffalos eyes and his cheek structure. It is him.
GB: That sounds like a very different philosophy than the approach you took on Louis Letterriers movie.
KF: It is. It was something we actively avoided before. Hulk was Hulk, hes not any one actor and Hulk should look like Hulk. It was like Iron Mans armor, in a way, it wouldnt change depending on the actor wearing it. But weve taken a different approach because Hulk is Banner and, frankly, we came to question our approach. Why are we not doing it this way? So we did a few designs that put Ruffalo into it, and we immediately saw how much more you feel for the creature. When you keep that connection going between Banner and the Hulk and you have characters around him trying to reach Banner inside Bruce, calm down, and all of that classic Hulk stuff it means more if you see the same actor throughout. I think before it was something we thought might look silly. We were nervous about getting it good enough [via visual effects] to work. Frankly, it was the same way we were nervous early on about making Steve Rogers skinny for Captain America. Is this going to look disturbing? Is this going to look silly? In the end, we got that one right. Were going to get this one right.
Mission accomplished. Marvel is about to start shooting “Iron Man 3,” while “Thor 2″ is ramping and Feige seems reengaged with director Edgar Wright’s “Ant-Man” project. For the moment, though, everyone in the Marvel universe can sit back and bask in the glow of cosmic windfall — and ousted Walt Disney Studios chief Rich Ross can wonder why he got all the blame for “John Carter’s” interstellar crash but not one huzzah for the “Avengers” conquest. (Wait, was that Ross in the credits laughing about love and death?)
On Sunday, a spokesman for Feige said that the executive was going ”to lie low” and soak it all in, which made me think of Uatu standing passively on some lunar ridgeline watching the box-office reports from Earth.
There’s plenty for Feige to fret about, too: Can he actually hold this cast together after this film crosses the billion-dollar mark and all their agents reach for calculators and their cellphones?
On a more positive note, can the new crowd-pleasing version of the Hulk turn Marvel’s second-most famous character into a decent solo franchise? Is the Winter Soldier the ideal storyline for a Captain America sequel? Will director Whedon stick around long-term or will something like that Wonder Woman movie he wanted make tempt him toward other star systems? Time will tell, and plenty of people will be keeping track like an amateur Uatus. Yes, after ”The Avengers,” the whole world is watching.
– Geoff Boucher
Hemsworth and Evans are going to command huge money. Ruffalo as well, but I wouldn't use Hulk. At least not three times.
SJ will demand big bucks as well. Renner will be out if he wants a raise. He has another franchise so I'm going to say he doesn't demand crazy cash.
RDJ will probably make 100 million plus if he signs for two more Avenger movies. His favorite charity can go bonkers if and when that becomes a done deal.
SLJ will also demand some big money. His is becoming the Xavier to a lesser degree. Bringing in Denzel would probably be cheaper at this point.
I still think the film can be done under 300 million.
Ah.............this is why Marvel signed everyone to 6 picture deals bro......it's taken care of
Paul Bond said:In its earnings release, CEO Robert Iger expressed confidence for the current quarter, partially because Marvel Entertainment's The Avengers "shattered domestic box-office records with a $207.1 million opening weekend for a global performance of more than $702 million to date."
On a conference call with analysts, Iger called Avengers "a great illustration of why we like Marvel so much." Then -- as if there were any doubts -- the CEO announced that a sequel to the blockbuster film is in the works with a release date "to be determined."
Multiple analysts asked about the licensed-product opportunities surrounding Avengers. Iger said there is stronger demand for Hulk toys since the release of the film last week, and added that there are "multiple opportunities to mine these great characters."
Iger said there are plans, for example, to add Avenger-based attractions to theme parks where existing deals with competitors make that possible.
Iger shot down the possibility of purchasing the film rights to other Marvel characters -- Fox's rights to X-Men, for example -- on the basis that there are so many in the Marvel stable to begin with that isn't the need for more.
Marc Graser said:While "The Avengers" assembles auds in theaters, ABC is developing a TV show based on the Incredible Hulk that Guillermo del Toro will produce. Boy targeted cable channel Disney XD already shows "Avengers" toons. Its consumer products biz is benefitting from "The Avengers'" success, selling out of toys, especially for the Hulk -- Hasbro alone is expected to generate $400 million from "Avengers"-related toy sales. Disney's theme parks are developing new attractions based on Marvel characters that don't appear at Universal's Islands of Adventure park in Orlando, Fla. And online, a "Marvel: Avengers Alliance" game has attracted over 7 million paying players on Facebook.
Robert Iger said:Marvel's The Avengers isn't just a film. It's a franchise, from our perspective. It was helped by the success of the Iron Man movies and Captain America: The First Avenger. From the Avengers we get a chance to make Thor 2 and Iron Man 3 and hopefully another Marvel's The Avengers movie.
This one film, which was successful, over $700 million, as you said, as of last night, is going to get a number of other films and franchises. We see tremendous interest in products and in games for Marvel's The Avengers. We have an ability to leverage what was a very fun film done by a great group of film makers into something much bigger for the company and the effect will be prolonged and that's very, very exciting for us."