Yesterday we reported the mediocre early ‘The Incredible Hulk’ box office estimates, but it turns out these numbers were slightly on the low side. Louis Leterrier’s new Hulk grossed over $21 million yesterday, giving it a shot at a $55 million box office weekend. We know it’s no ‘Iron Man’ by now, but it will be a decent opening nonetheless. In line with the opening numbers by ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ last month. Notable is that ‘The Incredible Hulk’ won’t beat ‘The Hulk’ by Ang Lee in 2003, which made $62 million during its opening weekend.

Happening’s box office Friday was in line with what we reported yesterday. The awful thriller made $12.8 million, a little higher than the $12.5 mill we reported. It will definitely top Shyamalan’s last endeavor ‘Lady in the Water,’ which only made $18 million during its opening in 2006. ‘The Happening’ is still looking to surpass $30 million for the total weekend.

Last week’s movies are performing in line with our expectations from the weekly box office roundup. ‘Kung Fu Panda’ had another good Friday with a $10 million gross. While ‘You Don’t Mess with the Zohan’ went down to just $5.5 mill for the day.

At the premiere of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ director Louis Leterrier said he would love to make another Hulk movie. “I’ll do another ‘Hulk’ movie any day of the week. I love it! I love the character, I love the TV show. I love that he’s an anti-hero,” Leterrier said. Well, we know Marvel has a plan for all their movies, which includes a sequel. But we also know Marvel keeps their directors in the dark, maybe to replace them with fresh blood?

In any case, Leterrier will direct anything Marvel throws at him. “I’ll direct anything that Marvel puts out. I’m going to be camping out at the Marvel office to direct anything they want,” he joked.

If the ‘The Incredible Hulk’ tracking numbers are correct, the movie’s box office will guarantee a sequel. But will the Frenchman direct it, who knows.

We know Marvel is trying all it can to disconnect ‘The Incredible Hulk’ from the Ang Lee’s movie in 2003 – or should I say flop? But not only the marketing department is busy with distinguishing the new movie from ‘The Hulk,’ the creators are also pressuring the fact their movie is a totally fresh and original experience. Latino Review caught up with the director and producers of the new movie.

Director Louis Leterrier said, “I respect Ang’s movie tremendously and I love Ang’s movie. I just didn’t want to do the same thing. […] we have to all try together to make people understand that this is really not the sequel to the first movie, but it’s not a reboot of the first movie where you do the same thing.”

Continue reading ‘The Incredible Hulk’ is not ‘The Hulk’