The Incredible Hulk
Running Time 114 minutes
Written by Zak Penn
Directed by Louis Leterrier
Starring Edward Norton, William Hurt and Liv Tyler

Five years have passed since the first big-screen Hulk wasted the reputation of director Ang Lee on a computer-generated comic strip nobody wanted to see. That film suffered punishing reviews and a devastating 70 percent drop-off in attendance in the second week, from which it never recovered. But you can’t keep an old, green, 10-ton Brussels sprout down for long. It’s too early to predict if The Incredible Hulk, the CGI sequel, will sink to that same level of box office infamy, but take it from me: You’ll have the DVD by Labor Day.  read more »

We really do like him when he’s angry! Although general wisdom might have advised against bringing the Hulk—the mild mannered scientist by day, giant green ragey monster by night—to the screen again, after the Ang Lee’s adaptation went splat in 2003, The Incredible Hulk did pretty well last weekend. The Edward Norton-starring flick made $54.5 million, edging out Kung Fu Panda and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. But what’s weird is that while The Happening was soundly trounced by most critics, it still managed to make $30 million and do healthy business overseas. Come on, Europe—you’re supposed to be the classy continent.  read more »

Holy Panda! Kung Fu Panda, the animated film from DreamWorks about a chubby, slacking, would-be Kung Fu fighter voiced by Jack Black, took the top spot last weekend, raking in over $60 million. That’s more than those boozy Sex and the City gals, who got bumped to fourth place. The film set a record for the best opening ever for a non-sequel DreamWorks ’toon, and comes in third place all time after Shrek and Shrek 2. Could the weekend’s back-breaking heat have helped fill up all those seats, we wonder?

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