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The production budget for Hulk was $137 million. Universal was probably expecting the film to attain Spider-Man levels of box office. Opening in the US on June 20, 2003, it reached #1 on its opening weekend with a take of $62.1 million. It looked like Universal had a mega hit. However, any chance of a franchise was killed on its second weekend after the film suffered an enormous 69% drop, mustering only $18.8 million. Word-of-mouth must have spread that maybe the effects did indeed look a bit rubbish. “You don’t ever want to see this,” said Universal’s head of distribution Nikki Rocco of the large drop, “but you move on.” The film continued to suffer drops of over 50% every weekend, till its seventh, whereupon it wasn’t even in the US top 20 anymore. It managed to earn $132 million in the US and $113 million internationally, making for a good worldwide gross of $245 million.

Reviews at the time were mostly positive. Acting wise, it was great, with the likes of Bana (in deadly serious mode), Connelly, Nolte, and Sam Elliot. However, the film appeared to be being bashed for trying to appeal to more than the masses, as reviewers mentioned how it wasn’t what they expected from a comic book film. It was neither fun, nor comical.

Marvel brought the rights back from Universal, and attempted to reboot the franchise in 2008 with The Incredible Hulk, directed by Louis Leterrier. That they made a second Hulk film just five years after Lee’s effort was like their way of saying, “Okay, so we got it wrong the first time around. Think you can forgive us and give us another chance?” As a way of distancing itself, the idea was to pretend that Lee’s Hulk film never happened. It wasn’t strictly a sequel, or remake, but a completely different film with a different cast; Edward Norton was cast as Bruce Banner. The Incredible Hulk performed with similar results, maybe attracting the same crowd, with a domestic take of $134 million and an overall worldwide total of $263 million.

I'm not a big Hulk fan and the trailers looked a bit iffy. The only thing that drew me into the cinema was director Ang Lee. I first viewed Hulk at a preview screening a week before it opened. I went in with few expectations and came out with very mixed views. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the film. Even today, I neither like it, nor hate it. Parents had bought their kids to the screening I attended and even they looked bored, so they started to run up and down the aisles. It may have looked family friendly, especially with all the toys and tie-ins, and Burger King advertising a Hulk Meal Deal (a Double Rodeo Burger and Chunky Fries, with six toys to collect), but it wasn’t really for children.

Whereas credit is due for being completely different from any other superhero film in the comic book genre, it is also one of the reasons why it didn’t work. Give the audience something they’re not used to seeing, they probably won’t know what to make of it, and will most likely refuse to support it. That Lee managed to make an intelligent Hulk film is quite an accomplishment, yet it was too smart for its own good, and the majority of its target audience, defying the expectations that came with it. Plus, Danny Elfman's score is totally forgettable.

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