IRON MAN

[muthagoose]

IRON MAN: THE MOVIE

Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Robert Downey Jr. is suiting up to star in "Iron Man," the first feature film to be produced independently by Marvel Entertainment.

Hollywood bad boy Jon Favreau is directing the movie, which will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Downey will portray Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Using his intelligence and ingenuity, Stark instead builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. Upon his return to the U.S., he uncovers a plot with global implications and must don his armor and protect the world. The comic debuted in the 1960s, and Iron Man's origin involved Stark being a prisoner of the Viet Cong. The movie version, written by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, will be set in today's geopolitical climate.

[muthagoose]

Paltrow joins the cast of Iron Man

According to Variety Gwyneth Paltrow will join Robert Downey Jr. and Terrence Howard in "Iron Man," the Jon Favreau-directed film that is being financed by Marvel Studios and released by Paramount Pictures in May 2008.
Paltrow will play Virginia "Pepper" Potts, personal assistant to an industrialist who develops an armored suit to battle bad guys. Production begins in March in Los Angeles.

"These are popcorn films designed for broad audiences, but there are multidimensional characters that have brought us the best luck with actors," Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige said.

[Southeast Jerome]

"Bad Boy" Jon Favreau? Don't you mean "Dough Boy" Jon Favreau or "NOOOOOOO! JON FAVREAU!" as Hurricane Earl might say?

[muthagoose]

Favreau Gives Iron Man Update

Iron Man director Jon Favreau has posted an update on the Iron Man Movie Group:

I'm exhausted. I could never have imagined how overwhelming of an experience a movie like this is. I could not be happier with the way the movie is turning out or the reactions we are getting to both the official and unofficial images that are floating out there in cyberspace.

I have been relatively quiet for two main reasons. First, I feel like the General of a huge military campaign. I have no life other than Ironman. Between the script, sets, effects, shooting and editing, I am completely monopolized.

The second reason is, you IM fans are like criminal profilers. You take a few official statements and images, a couple of off the cuff remarks from press junkets and red carpets, and some deftly gathered surveillence footage and are able to take some very uncanny stabs at what the movie will be. The movie is a year away. If I don't keep a few tricks up my sleeve, I can't knock you on your ass in 2008. At the rate you're going, you'll have everything figured out by then. I don't mean to be evasive, but it's my job. I've got to lay low.

(At least until Comicon.)

Iron Man hits theaters on May 2, 2008.

[muthagoose]

More On "Iron Man 2" Casting Change

When it was announced that Don Cheadle would take over Terrence Howard's in the upcoming "Iron Man" sequel, many knew that something was fishy behind the scenes. Now, Entertainment Weekly has released a detailed story explaining what happened and it makes for an interesting read.

Some label the change due to Howard's difficult behavior on the set of the first "Iron Man", Favreau and co. apparently cut and reshoot many of his scenes during production.

Others say the situation is most likely a matter of finances. Howard was the first actor signed to the film and the highest paid - and so when the film came together it was too late to renegotiate his deal.

So when Favreau and scribe Justin Theroux sat down to flesh out the sequel, the Rhodes character has been minimized and so the studio went to the actor's agents with a new, drastically reduced offer.

Sounds harsh? Well apparently the offer was similar to what supporting cast members were paid for the first movie, but was an estimated 50-80 percent pay cut from Howard's paycheck for the first film.

[muthagoose]

Several "Iron Man 2" Updates

"Iron Man 2" screenwriter Justin Theroux tells MTV News that the recent Entertainment Weekly report of the Terence Howard/Don Cheadle casting debacle from a few weeks ago made a few errors.

That article claimed that due to the over-sized paycheck and disputes with actor Terrence Howard over his role of Jim Rhodes in the first film, director Jon Favreau was thinking of curtailing the character in the second's story and that a reduced salary offer rejected by Howard's people lead to Cheadle taking over the role.

Theroux says that "I can only tell you what I know which is that from a writing standpoint we didn’t do anything differently [with the character]. It’s not like we were sitting there going, we need less of this or that. We just approached the characters and the story on their own terms...Rhodes is completely present in a very strong and big way…He’s COMPLETELY present."

Meanwhile Spoiler TV has posted an early casting call sent out to agencies for the new major characters in the film. One role is a 'brilliant, gritty' Eastern European man in his 30's, one a 20-something woman proficient in several languages and martial arts, and 'Bruiser' - a tall Russian with the 'build of a MMA fighter' and must be able to perform their own stunts. Shooting begins in April.