Who's Up, Who's Down: Shia, Norton, Halle

Apr 16, 2007,  Dre Rivas
UP: Shia LeBeouf, Hulk

Shia LeBeouf. Kid had a big week. After the (official) word came through that he'll be in the new Indiana Jones flick, his new movie, Disturbia, snatched up the box office title, swatting that Bruce Willis-Halle Berry movie down (to fourth place, actually) like the hairy little insect it is. Add to that the Transformers movie en route and we have a recipe for all kinds of weird pronunciations of his name. I read Jeffery Wells's blog on the proper pronunciation, and I think it's supposed to be Shy-a (as opposed to She-a). As for his last name, I'm thinking "Le" (as in "Le") and "Boof" (as in that girl Boof from Teen Wolf), but I could be wrong. I've heard people say "La Buff," but that can't be right, can it? (ed note: based on the SNL opening it does seem to be "La Buff.)

A long time ago when the talk about an Incredible Hulk feature really started to get serious and Ang Lee landed the gig, the first person I thought of for the role was Edward Norton. Then again, I was probably thinking of Edward Norton for every role back then because the guy was en fuego. Years have passed and he's not as fuego. Not exactly frio, but not exactly fuego. Comprende?

Anyway, it looks like Universal is hell-bent on doing another Hulk movie and Variety is reporting Ed Norton will don the green CGI. The sequel, titled The Incredible Hulk, will be directed by Louis Leterrier, who gave us not only The Transporter but The Transporter 2. That's right, from Ang Lee to this guy!

DOWN: Halle Berry, The Mummy 3

You know, sometimes my job just ain't that easy. Sometimes you have to hurt the people you love. Sometimes you wonder if you're just another spoke in a wheel, just another brick in the wall. For me, that sometime is right now. Halle, baby, it hurts me to say it because you're my girl, but your movie got smacked down this week. First it got smacked down by the critics, then the box office. Now, it wasn't quite the suplex Pathfinder received, but Halle had Bruce on her side! Now, you might be asking yourselves, "Why is only Berry down? How come Bruce gets a pass?" The answer? You got it ... sexism.

I have a guilty admission here. I half-liked Stephen Sommers' The Mummy and flat-out loved The Mummy Returns. It might have been my weakness for anything Rachel Weisz-related, but I'll give the second movie the benefit of the doubt. Production on the third film (this time to be directed by Rob Cohen) is slated to start this summer, with Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li joining in on the fun. But count Weisz out, reportedly due to "scheduling conflicts." Translation: she's scheduled to make non-crap.

Okay, maybe I'm being too hard on poor Mr. Mummy 3. Li and Yeoh are a definite bonus, but I don't know, I'm just mummied-out I guess. If you've seen one, you've seen them all, and I've seen two already. There's only so much CGI sand a man can take.

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Dre writes three times a week for Film.com, covering movies and DVD with his Floridian flare. E-mail him!