Norton & Universal "Hulk" Arguments

On the eve of the debut of the first trailer for Marvel and Universal's big-budget "The Incredible Hulk", word has leaked out at Deadline Hollywood Daily that a behind-the-scenes feud is underway.

Seems that the film's writer and lead star Edward Norton is in disagreement with Marvel Studios over editing and final cut of the film. Norton, director Louis Leterrier, Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel and Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige have apparently been in tense talks this week to try and resolve the problem.

When Norton boarded the project, one of the conditions was that he was "promised tremendous involvement and access" which included him rewriting Zak Penn's script. Now, with a month to go before the final cut of the film is 'locked', there's "a lot of posturing going on between Edward's camp and Marvel over how you edit the final version."

Norton has famously had some similar behind-the-scenes issues before with his films, notably "American History X" and "The Italian Job". There's fear that without his support the film could tank this Summer, and combined with Ang Lee's lacklustre 2003 take on "Hulk", it would pretty signal the end of any chance for the character having a film franchise.

The good news is that whatever the situation, the problems are expected to be resolved one way or another very quickly so this won't be drawn out at least.