Marvel Entertainment has set June 27th 2008 as the release date for "The Incredible Hulk", it's second go around at the jolly green superhero.
This locks in the second Marvel superhero film for that Summer after "Iron Man" on May 2nd. Next summer the studio is releasing "Spider-Man 3" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" in similar slots.
Louis Leterrier ("Unleashed") is helming this more crowd-pleasing and action-oriented superhero film which hopes to avoid comparisons with Ang Lee's stylish but flawed 2003 movie. 'Hulk' goes into production next year.
More interesting though is how the film will fare that weekend. With July 4th falling on the following Friday in 2008, studios are seeing June 27th as a key weekend with Pixar's mysterious "Wall-E" project hitting the same day.
Stiffer competition though will come in the form of "The Dark Knight" which many expect to hit theatres either June 13th, 18th or 20th - less than a fortnight before "Hulk". Whereas 'Begins' reached near universal acclaim, "Hulk" has to come off the odour of 2003's "Hulk".
This year's "Superman Returns" also demonstrated the holiday weekend isn't necessarily a good time to launch superhero films either.
