Ang Lee to Tackle Hulk?

ByABC News
January 12, 2001, 6:51 PM

January 12 -- Director Ang Lee apparently really likes the color green. The acclaimed filmmaker made a green sword (The Green Destiny) the centerpiece of his Golden Globe-nominated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and now he's considering an angry green man as the focus of his next project.

Yep, Lee is in early talks to direct the comic book tale of the Incredible Hulk. According to Variety, Lee's version of the radioactive man-beast will be a big-budgeted, f/x-driven picture, set for a 2003 release.

It's not yet clear who would be the lucky man to utter scientist Bruce Banner's trademark line, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." However, we hear Lou Ferrigno who portrayed Banner's mean, green alter ego in the '70s TV series is currently teaching physical fitness courses at Los Angeles' Learning Annex. Presumably, he's still in adequate shape to reprise his clothes-ripping role.

The Hulk back story, of course, revolves around Banner, who is the unfortunate victim of a nuclear explosion. When he gets stressed out, he transforms into the Hulk, a green-skinned superhuman known to toss grizzly bears into the air as if they were peanuts. Banner is pursued by the military for (drum roll, please) "a crime he did not commit."

"Ang will bring the characters and the drama to the foreground, in addition to his visual storytelling ability," producer Gale Anne Hurd told Variety. Hurd will work with Marvel Studios president Avi Arad on the project.

The film version of Hulk has been on the back burner since 1998, when Universal Pictures decided that first-time director Jonathan Hensleigh's script, which had a projected budget of $100 million, was too pricey.