Ed Norton Dodges "Hulk" Publicity

The new "Incredible Hulk" opens Friday, but don't expect to see its star, Ed Norton, doing much promotion for the film:

Norton, I'm told, has slipped off to a desert island rather than do publicity for the movie he stars in and nominally wrote.

I say nominally because there's been a dispute right along about who did what on "Hulk." The screenplay is credited to "X-Men 3" writer Zak Penn, who definitely wrote the original draft and mapped out the movie.

But wasn't it only last July 2007 that Norton boasted of writing the screenplay at Comic-Con, the convention for people who trade comic books and associated materials? Uh, yes, he did.

I'm told that Norton did substantially rewrite the Penn draft, added lots of dialogue, and worked on the character of the Hulk's alter ego Bruce Banner to make him more human. But Norton fell out with Marvel and Universal and declined to do much publicity. This left the bulk of it to co-star Liv Tyler.

Plus, reas some reviews of "The Incredible Hulk":

Entertainment Weekly gives it a B-

Variety said it's "perfectly solid summer action fare"

The Hollywood Reporter called it "a neat thrill ride"

The New York Times said, "If you really need a superhero to tide you over until Hellboy and Batman resurface next month -- and honestly, do you? really? why? -- I guess this big green dude will do."

Comments

[gonavy]

I heard that during the editing process much of his writing got cut. He threatened to not do publicity if they cut his stuff out. I guess they did.

This is supposed to be an action movie, you don't go to hear a bunch of dialogue. Would he have taken responsibility if the movie bombed with his stuff in there? Probably not.

[NightAdder]

I loved comic books while growing up, but I was never a big fan of the Hulk.

Norton is an exellent choice to play Banner. However, the credibility he wants for shaping the character will only come if the movie is really sucessful. In the first movie, the actors are basically beholden to the TPTB and given little credit. Edward should make his power play in the sequel, which means he need to get his tail out there and makes sure this movie's a hit by promoting it.

[DennyCrane]

I can understand having a dispute with the producers and studio, but he's now put the burden on his co-stars to not only sell the movie, but also explain why the lead actor is in hiding.