UPDATE: Cinematical was contacted by Penn's rep a little while ago, and informed that Zak is NOT writing Captain America. The wording in the interview made it sound that way (and the transcript was correct), but Penn was actually talking about being attached to The Avengers, not Captain America. Obviously this probably means David Self's script is still in the mix, and we'll update you when there's more info.

In a new interview over at ComicMix, writer-director Zak Penn talked up a ton of projects including his latest film The Grand (which I loved, and which you should see), as well as his geeky comic-related screenwriting projects like The Avengers, that X-Men spinoff flick (featuring the young X-Men), The Incredible Hulk, a new one called Bermuda Triangle and, finally ... Captain America? Oh yes, though he doesn't go into much detail (aside from saying he's attached), apparently Zak Penn is now the guy writing Captain America. (Not sure what happened to David Self?) And assuming Edward Norton doesn't sign on to star, Penn's final script may actually make it before cameras this time.

As far as The Avengers goes, Penn admits they're waiting for other Marvel characters to debut their solo films first, like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and they may even wait for Captain America as well. So with all those films still left to go before cameras, I'd get used to waiting ... patiently. Penn also talked up the X-Men spinoff story he's still attached to write and also direct; he says it involves "a younger group of X-Men at the beginning" and that "it's a little bit more of getting back to the classic X-Men." No word on when that will see the light of day.

It's good to see Penn is writing Captain America, because if he's the guy penning that Avenges movie, you'd like to see him involved in as many of these as possible. Of course, I'd like to hope he'll find time to stuff in another tiny mock like The Grand, if only to see which ridiculous character he has Werner Herzog play this time.

The first official poster for this summer's The Incredible Hulk has just arrived over at IGN (head over there for a larger version). As you can see from the image above, the Hulk is trying to capture Edward Norton using the muscles in his back. Personally, this is exactly what I imagined the poster to look like -- some sort of combo between the green monster and Bruce Banner, with a bunch of helicopters and tanks shooting in the background. I expect a few character posters (one with the Hulk, one with Abomination, etc) to follow in the coming weeks.

Despite its solid cast, The Incredible Hulk has enjoyed (or maybe not) its share of controversy since word of the film first hit the net. An obvious re-do (following Ang Lee's not-so-successful effort a few years back), rumors have spread about Norton's control-freak mentality; how Zak Penn was quietly replaced as writer and how studio folks have clashed with Norton over the final product. Me? I still think it looks pretty cool -- and dammit if Tim Roth doesn't rock out as the villain in this movie!

What do you think? Does The Incredible Hulk have the, er, strength to compete with this summer's other big whales?

As fans continue to cringe whenever more talk of that planned Justice League of America movie creeps online, Marvel is taking a much different approach with regards to their long-awaited Avengers movie. Marvel refuses to move forth on an Avengers flick until all of the characters featured in said movie are well established on the big screen first. Two such characters, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, will debut new looks this summer, while plans to bring the characters of Captain America, Thor and Ant Man are already in the works. As of now, Zak Penn has been tapped to write The Avengers movie script, but no director has ever been announced (probably because the project is still a good two, three years away from becoming a reality). But when it finally comes time to bring someone in to helm, Iron Man director Jon Favreau would definitely like to be considered.

While speaking to MTV, Favreau confirmed that he thinks The Avengers movie is "a great idea" and that he might like to direct it. He also talked a bit about Marvel's intentions, saying, "[But] in the case of Marvel they're pretty clear on wanting to do it with the actors who've established the roles or to not do it at all. That's what they've said to me. I think it's a good idea if you use the characters established in the other franchises that then come together for an event. I don't think they would do it like they're doing 'Justice League' where it's a whole different set of actors and a whole different take on the world." Can I get an Amen on that one, brutha!

So what it sounds like (or at least what's been told to Favreau) is that Marvel will not move ahead with an Avengers movie unless those actors portraying the characters in their individual films reprise those roles for the film. Which is a flippin' fantastic idea, and one that makes sense for a number of reasons. See, as a fan, I'd be more than happy to wait a few years to get a comic team-up movie that was done the right way, like this, than settle for a rush job. And the question now is -- would you want Favreau behind the camera? Or will you hold off on forming an opinion until we see what he does with Iron Man?

Extra Tidbit: A future Avengers flick will apparently be teased in the new Iron Man film, as Samuel L. Jackson is said to be playing a small part as fellow comic hero, Nick Fury.

If you just casually glanced through Kevin Kelly's superlative coverage of the San Diego Comic Con Marvel event, then you may have overlooked a tidbit from Edward Norton that will have the Incredible Hulk producers wringing their hands while screenwriter Zak Penn politely asks the Writers Guild for a friendly arbitration. What was it that Mr. Norton said?

"Well, you're making me be immodest ... I came into this and I wrote the screenplay. I was a Marvel kid growing up, and I used to subscribe to a lot of the books. Remember when they used to come in plastic with the little piece of scotch tape on the back? This story has almost limitless potential in it to be remade and redone. It's a really classic modern mythology."

Hmm. Now, I know full well that Mr. Norton is a multi-talented guy. In addition to being Oscar-nominated two times in three years (for Primal Fear and American History X), he's been consistently strong in The People vs. Larry Flynt, Rounders, Fight Club, 25th Hour, The Italian Job, The Illusionist, etc. He directed the romantic comedy Keeping the Faith, and his second directorial effort (Motherless Brooklyn) will mark his "official" screenwriting debut. He also produced The Painted Veil, edited Down in the Valley, contributed an amusing cameo to Kingdom of Heaven, and recorded music for Everyone Says I Love You ... and, um, Death to Smoochy.

But I thought Zak Penn was the one who wrote the screenplay for The Incredible Hulk. Penn, the comics expert who is credited on X-Men 2, (ahem) Elektra, X-Men 3, AND the Fantastic Four video game! (How does one receive credit for the game but not the movie??) Could it be that Mr. Norton signed on for the role of Bruce Banner under the arrangement that he could script-fiddle? Heck, maybe Mr. Penn knows all about it, couldn't care less, and is already knee-deep on his Spy Hunter and Avengers projects.

I just found it interesting is all. All I know is that if Norton's writing contributions make for a more entertaining flick, go for it. As I've mentioned only 455 times by now, The Hulk is definitely my favorite Marvel character. And frankly I'm pretty thrilled with the way the new flick is coming together.

As if he didn't have too many comic book adaptations to write, Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand) has been named as the new screenwriter of Joel Silver's remake of The Dirty Dozen, which we unfortunately heard about early last year. Originally it was reported that the movie was being scripted by three high-profile writers, André Nemec, Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg, but apparently their work isn't good enough and a rewrite is now necessary. Of course, one has to wonder why Silver needs to go through so many writers when there's already a perfectly good screenplay by Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller. It isn't like too much needs to be updated; the movie is set in World War II. I'm not familiar with E.M. Nathanson's original novel, though, and I guess the first movie may have omitted some things that the new adaptation could include. Anyway, I guess it just isn't common practice to reuse an old script when remaking an old movie.

For those who haven't seen The Dirty Dozen, it's about a group of military criminals sent on a suicide mission to assassinate Nazi officers. It features an iconic ensemble of actors, most of whom were reunited to voice characters in Small Soldiers as a sort of homage. To the faithful, it will be very, very difficult to see a new version without Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Ernest Borgnine, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, George Kennedy and the rest. I don't know what the time frame is for the production of the remake, but we may get to see it as early as next year. And if Silver can get the project going soon, maybe it can even go head to head with Penn's buddy Bryan Singer's Hitler assassination movie, Valkyrie. They might even make a good double feature -- or you can rent the original Dirty Dozen and then go see Valkyrie and more possibly experience a great double feature.

I'm actually fine with this, because who cares about Spy Hunter? Yes, I hung around enough bowling alleys when I was a kid to have played Spy Hunter many times. I remember the oil slick, the smokescreen, and that's pretty much it. It seems almost appropriate that the only person they could find to turn that into a movie is the auteur who brought us Alien vs. Predator and Resident Evil. Variety reports that in addition to directing the re-launched project for Universal, Paul Anderson will also be tackling writing duties along with another scribe. This move comes after many bumps in the road for the property -- among the writers who have already come and gone from Spy Hunter are Zak Penn, Derek Haas, Stuart Beattie and Michael Brandt. Director John Woo was also set to make a Spy Hunter film in 2004, but that deal fell through. The Rock has long been attached to play the lead role in the film, but there's currently no word on whether or not he's still on board.

Up next for Anderson is Death Race, a remake of the 1975 film Death Race 2000, starring Sylvester Stallone as Machine Gun Joe and David Carradine as Frankstein. Jason Stratham is currently attached to that one. Anderson is also attached to direct Man With the Football, a film about a group of terrorists who steal the President's nuclear football -- a briefcase he can use to send nukes wherever. That one actually sounds more promising to me than this Spy Hunter business -- maybe Anderson will be too busy with Spy Hunter and a good director will take over the Football project.

With every film festival I attend, there's always that one movie that stands out; the one film I get behind, talk up to my friends and really pimp out as much as I can. Not because I have something to gain from it making money -- I do it because I thoroughly enjoyed the experience I had while watching it. And it's an experience I want my friends and family to feel as well. At this year's Tribeca Film Festival, that film for me was Zak Penn's The Grand. Now, perhaps it has something to do with my love for mockumentaries -- the fact that I wrote and directed one myself -- or that I simply adore everyone in this cast. Whatever it is, the movie hit me in a way that just felt so good.

Fortunately, I was able to sit down with writer-director Zak Penn a few days after watching The Grand. Penn, who is more known for writing superhero flicks like X-Men: The Last Stand and next summer's The Incredible Hulk, also happens to be a very funny guy who surrounds himself with some of today's top comedic talent. Look, maybe you'll like The Grand, maybe you won't. I will admit that if you're not a fan of the loose, improv mockumentary-type style, then you might not get this film. Personally, I hope you do. That way we can convince Penn to make another comedy, because I'm already itching to see what he has in store for us down the line. What follows is the very low-key conversation we had inside the swanky lobby of the Tribeca Grand hotel. We talk everything from casting and shooting The Grand to how he approached one of Hollywood's most talked-about scripts; that being the highly-anticipated follow-up to Ang Lee's Hulk.

Cinematical: Most know you as the guy who writes superhero flicks, but then you've directed two low budget mockumentaries. Is it a case of one for the money and one for the passion, or do you get an equal amount of enjoyment out of each project, be it big budget or indie?

Zak Penn: Will, the X-Men movies I happen to really like. That's not an unfair characterization of how I do it, however sometimes the ones you do for money are also the ones you do for passion. Like with X3, I worked my ass off for a year and a half on that movie -- I love the franchise and would do anything to work on it. It's not about the money. But, it does pay a lot of money and it allows me to do stuff like [The Grand]. There is a truth to it in that doing that production re-writes, doing assignments, things like that; it's not nearly as fulfilling as doing something like The Grand. Particularly, I don't even try to write comedies for Hollywood anymore. I've written a couple, and I don't like the way they come out. PCU was the last comedy I wrote, and that was the last one I wanted anything to do with. So yeah, it's like I go do these movies to make a living, keep my family afloat, and then I go do these more interesting independent movies because, to me, at least I'm doing something different; something that's worth seeing.

It is no secret for regular readers that I wasn't particularly impressed with Ang Lee's version of The Hulk. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate the flick -- far from it, actually. I found it to be a decent effort with truly inspired moments; I just thought it was lackluster overall. The character of The Hulk has a lot of movie potential, and you've got to credit Ang Lee for trying to go beyond the basic "Hulk Smash!" mentality, but there's only so much character study we want to see on The Hulk before we get antsy for him to start breaking things in cheesy action-movie fashion. Why did we invent action movies if not to showcase characters like Hulk?

Apparently, current Marvel favorite Zak Penn was at one point asked to write up a script treatment for the film which was eventually handed to Lee. Penn's initial draft was rejected in favor of a more introspective piece, but when Marvel realized fans seemed to want more action, they went knocking on Penn's door again. Penn, who has since proved his worth to Marvel by putting together other successful movie scripts, was willing and eager to give it another try. According to Penn, Marvel went back to his original script and said "this is more of the tone we wanted," so he'll be lifting some of his original ideas for his second try.

I'll admit to being initially skeptical of a remake this quickly after an original, but at this point I'm one hundred percent fanboy geeked for a new Hulk film. What are your thoughts on going back to the Zak Penn well?

Have you heard of Zak Penn? If you are into comic book movies, you should definitely know this guy's name -- he is one of the rising stars in the Marvel movie world. No, not as an actor, or even as a director. He's a writer, and he's been attached to more Marvel films than practically anybody who isn't Avi Arad or Stan Lee. His list so far includes two X-Men movies (and one video game), Elektra (hey, I didn't say it was all good work), a Fantastic Four video game, and the upcoming Incredible Hulk redux. He now seems to be on the very short list of people Marvel really digs, because not only have they given him work on the Hulk film, but they've also thrown him another bone in the form of this other tiny comic book. Maybe you've heard of it: It is called The Avengers.

Yes, Zak Penn, the luckiest man on earth, will be writing (or at least helping to write) the screenplay for Earth's mightiest heroes. But that's only after he finishes his work on The Incredible Hulk. They'll probably just hand him a pile of rare jewels somewhere in between, and give him a new house or two. Here's to hoping Zak Penn really finds his writing chops and brings us a few movies really worth enjoying. Nobody wants two more Elektras.

Who would have thought Zak Penn, he of countless superhero movie scripts (in addition to such highlights as PCU and Inspector Gadget), would have anything in common with slightly unhinged (in the best possible way) German genius, Werner Herzog? It turns out that the two get along like gangbusters, as evidenced by Herzog's starring roles in both Incident at Loch Ness (Penn's directorial debut) and The Grand, the improvised poker flick that Penn is currently putting together.

Herzog is joined in the cast by a host of poker-loving actors, including Ray Liotta, Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, Ray Romano and Jason Alexander who, if his appearances on Celebrity Poker Showdown are anything to go by, will prove himself both annoying and painfully unfunny. Penn's plan is to direct from a screenplay outline, but to allow the actors to improvise most of their dialogue as they play real poker on their way to the championship round of a pretend international tournament; he starts shooting next month.