10 Action Movie Flops That Deserve A Second Chance
1. The Incredible Hulk
The Marvel Cinematic Universe first reached screens in May 2008, when Iron Man enjoyed a $98 million opening weekend before going onto gross $318 million domestically. In cinemas a month later was The Incredible Hulk, which failed to repeat its predecessor’s success, earning only $134 in the domestic market.
Failure makes you a marked man, and in the wake of this “flop” neither the movie’s star, director or screenwriter were ever employed by Marvel Studios again.
Marvel must be a mean taskmaster because The Incredible Hulk is a solid action movie, eschewing the psychobabble of Ang Lee’s 2003 version in favour of a thriller plotline similar to Peter David’s run on the comic. Director Louis Leterrier orchestrates the slam bang stuff with gusto, keeps the pace fast and furious throughout and has a terrific supporting cast that includes William Hurt, Tim Roth and Tim Blake Nelson. It’s too bad we never got to see them return in a sequel – it couldn’t have been as drab as Iron Man 2.
Even if you consider TIH to be the ginger-haired stepchild of the MCU, you have to admit that it offers more fun than non-MCU movies like Elektra, X-Men: The Last Stand and Spider-Man 3.