Nov 3 2008More on the Case of Terrence Howard v. Marvel
Entertainment Weekly has another update to the ongoing debate on why Terrence Howard was cut out of Iron Man 2 (he wouldn't take a pay cut and wasn't that good at acting, apparently):
Hollywood insiders believe the exit stems from Terrence Howard's difficult behavior on the set of Iron Man. But those with intimate knowledge of the situation suggest a far more dramatic backstory: Howard was the first actor signed to the film and, on top of that, was the highest-paid. That's right: more than Gwyneth Paltrow. More than Jeff Bridges. More than Robert Downey Jr. And once the project fully came together, it was too late to renegotiate his deal. It didn't help that, according to one source, Favreau and his producers were ultimately unhappy with Howard's performance, and spent a lot of time cutting and reshooting his scenes. (Favreau could not be reached for comment, while Howard's publicist says: ''Terrence had a tremendous experience working on Iron Man.'')As such, when Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux went to map out the sequel they found themselves minimizing Howard's story line. Once Marvel learned that Favreau was thinking of curtailing the role, the studio went to the actor's agents with a new and drastically reduced offer — a number that's similar to what supporting cast members were paid for the first movie. The agents, according to sources, were so taken aback by this new figure — estimated at somewhere between a 50 and 80 percent pay cut — that they questioned it. Why did they blanch? Multiple sources say that Marvel execs never told Howard's reps that they had issues with the star's on-set conduct. (Marvel would not comment for this story.)
So much drama. Who's at fault here? Should Terrence Howard have taken less pay and done a better job acting? Should Marvel have at least told him before they recast his role? If I'm having a party, should I invite them both and risk them getting into an awkward argument when Marvel shows up with Don Cheadle? Is it possible Marvel found out that Terrence Howard is a skeleton wearing a magical flesh suit to blend in with the general population until he can ready his skeleton army? These are the questions we must answer before Iron Man 2 comes out.
Reader Comments
1. Vince Lombardi - November 3, 2008 2:19 PM
Casting Terrence Howard as Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes was sort of like casting Steve Martin as Tony Stark.
Rhodey is a cross between Ving Rhames, Dennis Haysbert, and Wesley Snipes. Howard came off completely wrong, and replacing him can only help the role. That said, I'm not sure Don Cheadle, whom I respect and admire a lot, is the right guy for the role, either.
Rhodey is the kind of character who you can drop in the middle of a hot LZ and expect him to kill everyone on both sides with his bare hands, have a complete justification for it, then take a hot shower and go out clubbing.
2. Elmo - November 3, 2008 2:35 PM
I guess
3. Uncle Eccoli - November 3, 2008 2:57 PM
He looks like a smug asshole.
4. Caligula - November 3, 2008 3:26 PM
I kind of like Terrence Howard's acting, though that pimp/rapper flick was completely overrated. Anyhow here are some of the stories reported on IMDB that sort of paint him as an out-of-touch prick prima donna/asshole:
Only dates women who use baby wipes for toilet paper: http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0064990/
Attacking co-workers:
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0591487/
Buys ex-wife childhood home:
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0596759/
Writing songs about stalking his ex-wife:
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0555746/
Claiming Cliff Huxtable blacklisted him:
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0266348/
Making women perform tasks to be with him:
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0249830/
Threatening to kill his daughter's boyfriend for no good reason:
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0240199/
Now of course this stuff may be exaggerated, but the majority is straight from this asshole's mouth. I have a feeling this guy is one to keep your eye on. I see full pages of The Superficial being filled with whatever inevitable controversy he has for us in future.
5. CaptainMorgan - November 3, 2008 3:32 PM
I agree, Don Cheadle is not the right pick either. He's a scrawny little dink of a man, not an action movie star (or co-star in this case).
Howard can blow it out of his nose with a rubber hose. He got it good on the first one, and he blew it. Tough reality check. Hollywood circles are pretty tight. Look what happened to Sean Young when she got pushy (and was a shitty actress to begin with...just like Terry!).
By the way, who really cares about this?
6. fsdfs - November 3, 2008 3:33 PM
shut up already, howard was (and still is) perfect for the role. i dont give a shit how much he was paid for it, he did a good job. i thought he was spot on. better than most of the other supporting actors, e.g. paltrow who i found appaulingly bad and probably the worst part of the film.
re-casting the role with cheadle is just plain stupid. cheadle simply hasnt got the right persona for the character. he's also too small and generally doesnt look anything like WarMachine in the comics (apart from being black woho).
then again, why didnt they cast martin lawrence? thats still a mystery to me...
7. Spaz - November 3, 2008 4:30 PM
fsdfs: "then again, why didnt they cast martin lawrence? thats still a mystery to me..."
And this, ladies and gentlemen, really tells you all you need to know about Mr. fsdfs.
To stay on topic, however, Howard was far too....soft for the role. Cheadle's not much better, regardless of how much I respect him as an actor. They need someone who's massive and plays the sidekick role well. Heck, why not cast The Rock? I mean, if they can make the Kingpin black instead of white, then they can make Rhodey...wait, what IS The Rock anyway?
8. Eric - November 3, 2008 5:18 PM
Good call on ditching Terrence. If he's going to play a more major, Iron Man-suit-wearing role in this next one, his soft, wheezy, womanly voice would sound very odd coming out of the suit.
9. cady - November 3, 2008 8:41 PM
He is so handsome and sexy..so many mature women want to meet him, but I hear he just dates a uniformed women at the nice site called ** [ ____Uiformedkiss COM_____ ] **..do you want to know more about him? His profile is really interesting.
10. HERMANMUNSTER - November 4, 2008 8:41 AM
Atleast they didn't cast Nick Cannon.
11. Mr. Jones - November 4, 2008 10:08 AM
Okay, I busted on Howard before, but after watching Iron Man again last night, I honestly think he did a good job.
I think both sides blew it. It's too bad that they can't seem to work it out.
12. SWITCH™ - November 4, 2008 6:17 PM
ummm i thought he was garbage in the first one...that one scene when he runs down the stairs shouting starks name...his voice was all squeaky like a little bitch...wonder how many time they had to re shoot that one.
13. shellibelli - November 10, 2008 8:34 PM
actually i remember reading an article about how he hated acting - and only does it for the money. I read this rgiht before I saw Iron Man and it kind of ruined it for me - watching him on the screen and wondering how much he hated being there.
I cant stand people who are given a great oppurtunity and just dont appreciate it at all. He said he only acts to pay the bills his real love is Music - well then I say move to it then and leave acting to those who can and do love it.
That being said right around when Crash and Hustle came out he was on Oprah and he went on about when he was arrested on a plane for being verbally abusive to a stewardess about something, and how it was a racial thing, how she threatened him and told him to his face that she didnt like blacks - at the time i found that very hard to believe - and yeah he had to pleade guilty he said ( i guess to excuse the fact that he did indeed plead guilty)
14. Jack - May 2, 2009 11:19 PM
"Atleast they didn't cast Nick Cannon." amen to that one! I can tell you that if they gave me the option of Terrence Howard and Don Cheadle... I'd go Cheadle all the way. Never saw him as a hot-head/action type until I watched Traitor. Sort of surprised me how he played that role. I really liked the first Iron Man and the only hole I could punch in it personally was Terrence Howard; just didn't like his performance all that much. He was alright, but it just seemed like he mailed it in. Cheadle is pretty much money in every role he does. It will be interesting to see how Cheadle does, I think he'll be fine. He may not match the Rhodey of the comics, but at least he'll put in a good performance.
15. Don - May 4, 2009 10:10 AM
#6 - ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE? MARTIN LAWRENCE?????? AH AHA AH HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Sorry for the caplock...I couldn't find a better was to express my outrage for someone thinking those thoughts and then allowing them to be typed out for the world to see. Insanity - casting Martin Lawrence to be a part of ANY comic book movie unless it's a live version of Spongebob Squarepants. He could play Sandy the Squirrel.