The first trailer for Universal’s The Bourne Legacy has finally been released. There’s no doubt that skeptics surfaced once it was announced there would be another Bourne movie without Matt Damon, but the trailer definitely convinces you that Jeremy Renner is a force to be reckoned with. We’ve got the same vibe as the franchise is known for but there is a sense of a darker and brutal story with some new elements in the midst.

It’ll be interesting to see how Renner’s character interacts with some familiar Bourne characters, but the addition of Edward Norton as the villain looks to be a perfect match. So be sure to check the trailer out and see why you should definitely add this to your already overflowing list of summer blockbusters.

The narrative architect behind the Bourne film series, Tony Gilroy, takes the helm in the next chapter of the hugely popular espionage franchise that has earned almost $1 billion at the global box office. The writer/director expands the Bourne universe created by Robert Ludlum with an original story that introduces us to a new hero (Jeremy Renner) whose life-or-death stakes have been triggered by the events of the first three films.

For The Bourne Legacy, Renner joins fellow series newcomers Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach and Oscar Isaac, while franchise veterans Albert Finney, Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Scott Glenn reprise their roles.

The Bourne Legacy hits theatres on August 3, 2012.

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Focus Features has released the first trailer for Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, which features Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman as part of the cast.

Watch the trailer below:

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, MOONRISE KINGDOM tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore — and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle. Bruce Willis plays the local sheriff. Edward Norton is a Khaki Scout troop leader. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand portray the young girl’s parents. The cast also includes Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as the boy and girl.

Moonrise Kingdom will be released May 25th, which is the same day as Men in Black 3.

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Since appearing in The Incredible Hulk in 2008 Edward Norton has stayed away from big studio movies, however according to Variety the actor is set to return as he is currently in negotiations to play the villain in The Bourne Legacy.

No details on his character or the plot have been released, but he’ll be joining Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz in the film.

Last year director Tony Gilroy (Duplicity, Michael Clayton, writer of previous Bourne films) made clear what The Bourne Legacy was in relation to Matt Damon’s films.

“It’s a completely original screenplay.” Secondly, “This is not a reboot or a recast or a prequel. No one’s replacing Matt Damon. There will be a whole new hero, a whole new chapter…this is a stand-alone project.

“The easiest way to think of it is an expansion or a reveal,” Gilroy says. “Jason Bourne will not be in this film, but he’s very much alive. What happened in the first three films is the trigger for what happens. I’m building a legend and an environment and a wider conspiracy…the world we’re making enhances and advances and invites Jason Bourne’s return [down the road].

Universal is targeting an August 2012 release for The Bourne Legacy with filming expected to begin in September.

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As we are all aware by now Edward Norton will not be making an appearance in The Avengers as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, which has freed him of any superhero franchise commitments for the foreseeable future.

Norton recently revealed that despite The Incredible Hulk he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of appearing in any future superhero movies, especially ones made by Christopher Nolan.

From IGN:

“Chris Nolan’s making the best ones out there by far” he explained “I’d do one with him. He’s set a new bar for sure, and I think he’s done a great, great job.”

We pushed Norton as to whether he’d be up for playing a villain in Batman 3, with the actor replying “That would be fun, I would not say no to that.”

And more specifically we asked if he’d like to play the Riddler, with the star simply smiling and saying “Your guys can put their votes in on that.”

Would you like to see Edward Norton in Batman 3? Or would that violate some Marvel/DC cross-pollination movie code?

In related news Christopher Nolan was asked about the status of Batman 3 at a press conference in Rome for Inception, and said:

I don’t like to talk too much about things until I’m further along with them. But I’m working on the script right now. My brother Jonah has done a draft for the script and now I’m writing on it. We have set a release date. And as far as the film being officially greenlit, they haven’t told they don’t want to do it. So I’m hopeful.

Warner Bros. has set a July 20th 2012 release date for Batman 3, so filming will most likely take place early next year.

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Earlier this year Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige said they were re-casting The Hulk for The Avengers as they have a “need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members”. Edward Norton’s agent didn’t particularly like this “purposefully misleading” and “offensive statement”, and hit back saying Marvel’s decision to re-cast is mainly a financial one.

At the time Edward Norton was the only one not throwing mud, saying he was “sincerely grateful” to Marvel for allowing him to play Bruce Banner and was “sad” that people would be disappointed with his departure. Now, a few months on, the actor was asked about the situation again assures that it was “nobody’s fault”.

From MTV:

“The thing that was disingenuous about some of the stuff that had gone on is it was a very professional and very respectful business situation,” he told MTV News. “We really couldn’t work it out on a business level, and I know that’s disappointing to some people, but it’s nobody’s fault. I don’t have any disrespect for anybody’s decisions in the business framework. You do what you feel you need to do on both sides, and that’s totally fine.

“I didn’t want to be negative about anything,” he said. “I had a great time doing that. I was very happy to be part of it all. People’s response to that film was great. That’s everything you want. If you’re going to do one of those, and be in those long traditions of those things we all grew up in, you don’t want to be in one of the bad ones. So I’m really happy people had a good thing with that.”

“My life’s way too good on too many levels to be over-intense about things like that,” he said.

Mark Ruffalo will play The Hulk/Bruce Banner in The Avengers which begins filming January/February next year,

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Taking on a role two other actors have played relatively recently can’t be an easy decision to make, especially when the majority of fans would prefer the previous guy to still be around. But Mark Ruffalo in Bruce Banner now, and he gave his first interview following his appearance at Comic-Con with the rest of The Avengers cast last weekend.

From Entertainment Weekly:

It was very exciting — and I realized I had some pretty big shoes to fill. Those were my heroes up there! I was a comic book fan growing up. I loved The Hulk and The Avengers — it’s just strange to be entering that world as an actor. I never would have imagined that before.

You’ll be playing Bruce Banner, The Hulk’s human alter ego. What are your thoughts on the character?
He’s a guy struggling with two sides of himself — the dark and the light — and everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control. I grew up on the Bill Bixby TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and real human way to look at The Hulk. I like that the part has those qualities.

Did you have any trepidation taking the role, given the very public way Marvel split with Edward Norton?
I’m a friend of Ed’s, and yeah, that wasn’t a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation’s Hamlet.

Ruffalo also said he may begin filming his part in the winter, but he is unsure at the moment. I suppose he will only need to be around half of the time as CGI will take over when Banner becomes The Hulk.

Click here to read the fully interview.

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Deadline are reporting that “the ink is drying on the deal” between Marvel and Mark Ruffalo for the actor to play Bruce Banner/The Hulk in The Avengers.

The Wrap said earlier today that both sides were close to signing the deal but “Marvel wants Ruffalo to sign on for between four and six Marvel movies” and they are notoriously cheap when it comes to paying actors (compared to other studios anyway). However it seems both sides have come to an agreement and Ruffalo may be appearing at Comic-Con tomorrow during the panels for Thor and Captain America.

Mark Ruffalo will be replacing Edward Norton in the role (who replaced Eric Bana) as Marvel said they wanted an actor “who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of [their] other talented cast members”. Edward Norton’s agent didn’t particularly like this “purposefully misleading” and “offensive statement”, and hit back saying Marvel’s decision to re-cast was mainly a financial one. Then Norton released a rather calm statement himself on the matter.

Ruffalo will be joining Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Samuel L. Jackson in The Avengers which begins filming in early 2011 under the direction of Joss Whedon.

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Deadline just blew everyone’s minds with the news that Mark Ruffalo (The Brothers Bloom, The Kids Are All Right) is in “late-stage discussions” to play Bruce Banner a.k.a. The Hulk in Marvel’s upcoming film The Avengers.

If you haven’t been following this story, there’s been a bit of drama this past week regarding our favorite green hero (or is it anti-hero?). Marvel announced that Edward Norton would not be reprising his role because they were looking for someone “who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of [their] other talented cast members.” Obviously Norton’s representatives didn’t take kindly to the criticism of their star, so they fired back with their own story, claiming Marvel made an “inappropriate attempt to paint [their] client in a negative light.” And finally, Norton himself posted a response to the entire fiasco, taking the high road and avoiding the name calling and mudslinging and simply expressing his sorrow that the situation didn’t work out.

Among all of the craziness, there was also rumor that an offer for the role of Bruce Banner went out to Joaquin Phoenix, who reportedly was considering the part but hadn’t signed any paperwork yet. And now Deadline throws Mark Ruffalo into the mix, which is someone I’m sure nobody saw coming. I’m a big fan of Ruffalo, so I’m kind of excited about this – but what do you think? Is Ruffalo right for Bruce Banner? Sound off in the comments section.

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First Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige said they were re-casting The Hulk for The Avengers as they have a “need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members”. Edward Norton’s agent didn’t particularly like this “purposefully misleading” and “offensive statement”, and hit back saying Marvel’s decision to re-cast is mainly a financial one.

Now Norton has released a statement himself on the situation and he seems to be the only one not throwing verbal punches.

From Norton’s official Facebook page:

And there we have it. Hopefully this will be the last of the statements released, unless Joss Whedon has something to say too. It’s a shame it couldn’t be worked out but money has a habit of getting in the way of things.

While all this was going on CHUD posted an article saying that Marvel has already put out an offer to another actor, and that actor is Joaquin Phoenix.

Apparently he has cleared his head from all the rapping and retiring craziness and “is taking time to mull over the offer”. Marvel has famously helped Robert Downey Jr. get back on his feet career-wise, and they may be looking to do the same for Joaquin Phoenix.

This hasn’t been confirmed; however Marvel will be looking to announce their new Bruce Banner at Comic Con so we will know soon enough. What would you think if Joaquin was cast in the role?

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On Friday we heard that Marvel intends to replace Edward Norton as The Hulk with a different actor for The Avengers, with Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige saying they have a “need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members”. He was saying Norton isn’t a team player, basically.

Well Norton’s agent, Brian Swardstrom, wasn’t too happy about Feige’s statement so he delivered a Hulk smash of his own in response.

From HitFix:

“This offensive statement from Kevin Feige at Marvel is a purposefully misleading, inappropriate attempt to paint our client in a negative light. Here are the facts: two months ago, Kevin called me and said he wanted Edward to reprise the role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. He told me it would be his fantasy to bring Edward on stage with the rest of the cast at ComiCon and make it the event of the convention. When I said that Edward was definitely open to this idea, Kevin was very excited and we agreed that Edward should meet with Joss Whedon to discuss the project. Edward and Joss had a very good meeting (confirmed by Feige to me) at which Edward said he was enthusiastic at the prospect of being a part of the ensemble cast. Marvel subsequently made him a financial offer to be in the film and both sides started negotiating in good faith. This past Wednesday, after several weeks of civil, uncontentious discussions, but before we had come to terms on a deal, a representative from Marvel called to say they had decided to go in another direction with the part. This seemed to us to be a financial decision but, whatever the case, it is completely their prerogative, and we accepted their decision with no hard feelings.

We know a lot of fans have voiced their public disappointment with this result, but this is no excuse for Feige’s mean spirited, accusatory comments. Counter to what Kevin implies here, Edward was looking forward to the opportunity to work with Joss and the other actors in the Avengers cast, many of whom are personal friends of his. Feige’s statement is unprofessional, disingenuous and clearly defamatory. Mr. Norton talent, tireless work ethic and professional integrity deserve more respect, and so do Marvel’s fans.

So it appears Edward Norton was in talks to return but Marvel didn’t want to meet Norton’s financial requests. I suppose both sides are to blame but if I were Marvel I would have just sweetened the deal slightly so that Norton was happy and then get on with making the movie.

Maybe Marvel would have been a bit more generous if The Incredible Hulk made more of an impact at the box office. At the moment Iron Man/Downey Jr. are the stars of the show and, while I would prefer Norton to return, The Avengers can still make $500 million+ without Norton. And that is how studios will look at it ultimately.

Expect the new Bruce Banner to be revealed at Comic Con in just over 2 weeks time.

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