Deadline now reports that Marvel Studios has reached a last-minute deal for Mark Ruffalo to play Bruce Banner, which should allow the actor to fly to San Diego to be introduced with the rest of The Avengers cast at Saturday afternoon’s Comic-Con International panel.

Ruffalo replaces The Incredible Hulk star Edward Norton, who was publicly rejected two weeks ago in an unflattering statement released by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. His pointed remarks seemed to lend credence to widely circulated, but frequently denied, reports that Norton had fought with studio executives over the final edits to 2008 film.

The 42-year-old Ruffalo, who’s been described as an “actor’s actor,” has been receiving rave reviews for role in The Kids Are All Right. Reports emerged just last week that he was in “late-stage discussions” to play Banner, so it would seem the pieces fell together rather quickly. Contracts might’ve been singed a little sooner, but The Wrap earlier today asserted that pay and the number of films to which Ruffalo would commit had become sticking points.

If all goes according to plan, Ruffalo should appear Saturday at the Marvel Studios panel with newly confirmed Avengers director Joss Whedon, and cast members Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson. There’s a good chance that we’ll also see Jeremy Renner, but probably not Nathan Fillion.

Actor Mark Ruffalo is reportedly deep into negotiations with Marvel Studios to join the cast of the upcoming superhero film “The Avengers.” The film has been in the headlines all week after contentious reports about who would be filling the role of The Hulk in the upcoming film.

The film will be directed by Joss Whedon who will have an all star line up at his disposal with Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury). Whedon and Ruffalo are discussing the possibility of him joining to play the role of Bruce Banner-The Hulk, but apparently the deal is not a done deal just yet.

The upcoming “Avengers” film made headlines earlier this week when Marvel put out a rather scathing statement when announcing they would not be casting Edward Norton in the role of the Hulk. Marvel appeared to insinuate that while Norton was a great actor and played the role of the Hulk fabulously in the 2008 film “The Incredible Hulk;” they nonetheless had fears he would not mesh well with the other actors on set. Ruffalo can currently be seen on the big screen in “The Kids Are All Right.”

Source: Deadline

You would think going to a fledgling film festival in Atherton wouldn’t seem to have much appeal for a star like Mark Ruffalo, whose first try at directing, “Sympathy for Delicious,” won a special jury prize at Sundance in January.

But there you would be wrong.

“These people showed a lot of support for this film at Sundance, so I thought it would be nice to return their support by supporting their little film festival out there,” said Ruffalo on the phone from New York.

Ruffalo will present “Sympathy for Delicious” in person tonight at the inaugural Windrider Bay Area Film Festival, which runs through Saturday at the Center for Performing Arts at Menlo-Atherton High School. It stars Christopher Thornton, a longtime friend of Ruffalo’s who has been in a wheelchair since a climbing accident some years ago and who co-wrote the screenplay, as a homeless DJ with healing powers who wants to be a rock musician. It also stars Orlando Bloom as an egotistical rocker, Juliette Lewis as a drugged-out bass player and Ruffalo as the priest who helps and struggles to understand the homeless healer. Read the rest of this entry »

PARK CITY, Utah — It’s hard to think of Mark Ruffalo, Philip Seymour Hoffman or Diego Luna as first-time film … anythings.

But at Sundance this year, these actors are newcomers of sorts, all showing off their work as first-time filmmakers.

Luna, best known for acting in Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Terminal and Milk, directed and co-wrote the Spanish-language heartwarmer Abel, about a family who indulges a little boy’s fantasy to become head of the household, pushing aside his absentee father.

“It’s a very personal story,” Luna said. “It’s about a kid who has to become an adult before he’s ready. That happened to me. I started to work (as a child actor) when I was 6. My mother died when I was 2. I had to behave as a grown-up, though I wasn’t, and I wanted to reflect on that.”

Ruffalo’s Sympathy for Delicious is the fantastical story of a recently paralyzed club DJ who discovers he has the power to heal through touch.

But instead of using the gift for good, he is tempted to use it for selfish reasons, making himself a new-age star to restore his craving for sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll — to the dismay of the world.

Jack Goes Boating is a story Hoffman lived with for a long time, playing the lead character in the stage version, and feeling a connection to the tale of a lumbering limo driver who tries to open up his life to new experiences: cooking, swimming, a girlfriend (played by Amy Ryan) and, of course, boating.

“I was trying to just direct it and not act in it, but it was very difficult to try to find somebody to play the part in the time we had before we had to shoot,” Hoffman said.

Actors don’t worry about those things.

“I thought I could put off the making of the film, but then we had to do it,” Hoffman said. “So I said, ‘All right, I’ll just do it.’ “

Among the better-known filmmakers is actor Mark Ruffalo, who is making a directing debut with Sympathy for Delicious, about a paralyzed man drawn into the world of faith healing.

The Sundance Institute has today unveiled the lineup of films in competition for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival (Jan. 21-31). The U.S. Dramatic Competition’s 16 films include: Derek Cianfrance’s romantic drama Blue Valentine starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams; HIMYM star Josh Radnor directing and starring in happythankyoumoreplease; Kevin Tyler Asch’s Holy Rollers starring Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha; James Franco starring in Allen Ginsberg story Howl; Mark Ruffalo’s directorial debut feature Sympathy for Delicious; and Jake Scott (Ridley’s son) directing James Gandolfini and Kristen Stewart in Welcome to the Rileys.

You can get more information at Sundance’s Official Website by clicking here.

Movies never seem to get tired of mining the comedic territory of artificial insemination. Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have the squirm-inducing “The Baster” coming up next year. Now we learn that sperm donation means “The Kids Are All Right” for at least one cast of characters.

Variety reports that Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowski (”Alice in Wonderland“) and Josh Hutcherson (”Journey to the Center of the Earth”) have joined director Lisa Cholodenko’s indie project — not a remake of the classic same-titled documentary about British classic rock outfit The Who — which begins shooting today.

The plot revolves around a same-sex couple, played by Bening and Moore, who are raising two children (Hutcherson and Waskikowski) conceived through artificial insemination. The two kids decide to track down their donor father, and find that he’s none other than Mark Ruffalo. He enters their lives and upsets their happy family dynamic, for better or for worse. I’m not sure if this is meant to be funny or serious, so let’s be safe and label it a “dramedy,” and hope that it’s not a fatherhood thriller!

Sony Pictures is bringing the crime drama ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ to Blu-ray in late-April.

Starring Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo, and penned by ex-New Kid Donnie Wahlberg, ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ will follow up a brief theatrical run with an April 28 Blu-ray debut (day-and-date with the standard DVD).

Among the bonus features is audio commentary with co-writer/director Brian Goodman and co-writer Donnie Wahlberg, the featurette “Makes You Stronger: The Making of What Doesn’t Kill You,” and deleted/alternate scenes.

Source: High-Def Digest