Universal Begins Principal Photography On The Hulk

Posted on April 5, 2002

Universal Pictures has begun principal photography on The Hulk, a feature film based upon one of Marvel Comics' most popular superhero series and directed by filmmaker Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) from a screenplay by James Schamus. The film's producers are Gale Anne Hurd, Marvel Studios Chief Executive Officer Avi Arad, James Schamus and Larry Franco. Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee and Kevin Feige are the executive producers.

Eric Bana (Chopper, Black Hawk Down) stars as scientist Bruce Banner, whose inner demons transform him into the Hulk in the aftermath of a catastrophic experiment. Bana plays both the human Banner and the superhuman Hulk (through visual effects technology provided by Industrial Light + Magic).

Jennifer Connelly, who just received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind, portrays Betty Ross, whose scientific genius unwittingly helps unleash the Hulk, and whose love for Banner finds its impossible resolution in the film's denouement.

Sam Elliott, who recently starred opposite Mel Gibson as Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley in Randall Wallace's We Were Soldiers, plays Betty's father, General Ross. Josh Lucas, who appeared opposite Connelly in A Beautiful Mind as Professor Martin Hansen, plays Glenn Talbot, a romantic and professional rival of Bruce Banner's. Academy Award nominee Nick Nolte, whose recent credits include Affliction and The Thin Red Line, plays a sinister figure who returns from Banner's past to haunt him.

Lee's behind-the-camera team includes cinematographer Fred Elmes (The Ice Storm, Wild at Heart, Blue Velvet), Academy Award winning production designer Rick Heinrichs (Planet of the Apes, Sleepy Hollow, Fargo), costume designer Marit Allen (Ride with the Devil, Eyes Wide Shut, Smilla's Sense of Snow) and editor Tim Squyres (all of Ang Lee's films and Robert Altman's Gosford Park). ILM's Dennis Muren, an eight-time Academy Award winner for films including E. T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, The Abyss and Jurassic Park, will supervise visual effects.