06.13.08: 'Hulk' Vs. 'Happening', McAvoy Denies He's 'The Hobbit'

In a clash of the studio titans, Marvel's reboot of The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, is squaring off at this weekend'€™s box office against M. Night Shyamalan's horror-thriller The Happening. It's this summer'€™s first head-to-head combat between major blockbusters, with Hulk having the definite edge thanks to the unjolly green giant's built-in iconic status and some thumbs-up reactions finally dousing months of negative buzz. Ed Norton's gone off to sulk, though: he clashed with Marvel over the final cut and refused to hang around after the premiere for interviews even though Hulk's set to be the biggest hit of his career, with moviegoers prepared to embrace his second coming only five years after Ang Lee's Hulk. Meanwhile, Shyamalan's attempt to recover from the critical decimation of Lady In The Water with a lean, mean, audience-pleasing machine has already hit a few potholes as reviewers put the steel-toed boot in. Expect The Happening to follow the traditional horror-film pattern of opening big (but not as big as Hulk), then dropping like a stone.

Damon... In A Chub Suit
Just Jared have posted shots of Matt Damon in character on the set of The Informant. Damon's plays Mark Whiteacre in Steven Soderbergh'€™s real-life drama, the middle manager who turned whistleblower against his price-fixing, agri-business bosses. Hmm, with that '€˜80s toupee and padded mid-section, he looks disturbingly like my dad... And here'€™s the real Mark Whiteacre if you want to weigh up his resemblance to the movie star playing him.

Casting Update: McAvoy No Hobbit
Amanda Peet has landed the female lead of John Cusack'€™s ex-wife in Roland Emmerich's apocalyptic disaster movie 2012... Christopher Eccleston is climbing into the cockpit with Hilary Swank in Mira Nair's Amelia Earhart biopic. The British actor will play Earhart's navigator, Fred Noonan... And James McAvoy has firmly denied those Bilbo Baggins/Hobbit rumours on the Wanted junket in London: "It'€™s not true, it's all internet rumour and nothing else I'€™m afraid. Sorry."€ Which is a bummer, as we'€™d already been picturing McAvoy in hirsute hobbit feet and pointy ears. Of course, it could just be a diversion to allow for a big blow-out announcement. The Bond franchise-holders swore blind that Daniel Craig wasn'€™t the new 007 until he sped down the Thames via speedboat in a tux for the official unveiling...

- Matt Mueller