Oct 29 2008 RDJ Officially Signed to Avenge Things
Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle have officially signed on to Iron Man 3 and The Avengers, the Marvel Studios project that will unite several of its superhero properties:
In addition to starring in "Iron Man 2," Downey has agreed to return as billionaire Tony Stark and his crime-fighting alter ego in "The Avengers" and a third "Iron Man" installment, guaranteeing the thesp a superhero-sized payday and his own ongoing franchise as part of a four-picture deal with the comicbook company.Company confirmed that Don Cheadle will replace Terrence Howard as Col. James Rhodes in the "Iron Man" sequels. Cheadle will also appear in "The Avengers."
This should finally shoot down all those rumors that Marvel was going to cast big-name actors in several superhero film franchises, allude to their eventual merging with cross-over characters and mention of forming the Avengers team, then suddenly re-cast all the parts with actors from community theaters and failed CW shows. Phew!
Downey Jr. extends Marvel deal [Variety]
Jun 2 2008 'Sex and the City' Seen by Many, Many Women
1. Sex and the City - $55.7 million--and they're spending it all on shoes! Here we go again!
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $46 million, a drop in profit that reflects just how frightened the Indiana Jones fans were of the Sex and the City fans.
3. The Strangers - $20.7 million, falling short of the expectation that it would somehow beat two extremely well-known and popular franchises whose fans have waited years for a movie.
4. Iron Man - $14 million, with many re-watching the film to see the after-the-credits scene where Robert Downey Jr. rolls around in money laughing.
5. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - Families looking to avoid sex and violence turned to Prince Caspian, which only contains a couple scenes of an undead lion smiting non-believers, earning $13 million.
May 27 2008 'Indiana Jones' Whips Weekend Competition, Using His Famous Whip
1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - A dutiful sense of responsibility combined with the subconscious desire to kill your idols brought Indiana Jones to $126 million, nestling it at #2, between Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and X-Men: The Last Stand, on the chart of Horribly Disappointing Memorial Day Weekend Sequels.
2. The Chronciles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - The substantial drop to $28.6 million is widely thought to be related to Prince Caspian's running theme of not being Indiana Jones.
3. Iron Man - $25.7 million, which is still a ton when you consider that this is its fourth week, and that the film frequently digresses into quoting Swingers.
4. What Happens in Vegas... - $11.1 million, making it the most profitable marketing slogan-based movie since Where's the Beef? 2.
5. Speed Racer - $5.2 million, which isn't that bad if you disregard that it cost $120 million to cover Earth in a pupil-wrecking CGI lacquer.
May 19 2008 'Prince Caspian' Tops Box Office, Awaits SNL Parody Song
1. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - "And it shall make $56.6 million" - Matthew 4:17
2. Iron Man - With a third weekend of $31.2 million, it seems like everyone has gone to seen this thing. So I'm going to go ahead and give away the ending: Arnold Schwarzenegger wins the competition.
3. What Happens in Vegas... - I'm glad a $13.9 million weekend kept this in the top five with Prince Caspian; it greatly improves our chances of seeing a What Happens in Narnia... parody.
4. Speed Racer - Go, Speed Racer, go! Please, someone go. Signed, the Wachowskis. ($7.6 million)
5. Baby Mama - Holding on to the top five for a fourth week with $4.5 million, Baby Mama may be small but it refuses to go away. Just like an actual baby.
May 12 2008 'Speed' Racer Unable to Defeat 'Iron Man' Despite Inspirational Theme Song
1. Iron Man - Neither Speed nor Kutch could topple this giant, which still managed a $50.5 million weekend. They must not know Iron Man's weakness: magic rings or something, maybe?
2. Speed Racer - $20.2 million, all to find out what it's like to be stabbed in the eyes with a rainbow.
3. What Happens in Vegas... - $20 million in ticket sales. If you went, please explain why, and detail any hilarious, on-set Kutch-pranks that may be revealed during the credits.
4. Made of Honor - $7.6 million, coming in just ahead of Grüm's Man.
5. Baby Mama - $5.8 million--enough to just buy several black market babies, effectively avoiding the need for a baby mama.
May 5 2008 Marvel Studios Announces Schedule up to Age of Flying Cars
Riding high on the overwhelming success of Iron Man this weekend, Marvel has decided to reveal its feature film slate for the next three years. This way, we'll say, "Ooh, goody, Thor will totally be the next Iron Man!" instead of, "A Thor movie? Are you f***ing kidding me?" Which will probably be the more likely sentiment after The Incredible Hulk. Here's the tentative schedule:
The Incredible Hulk - June 13, 2008
Iron Man 2 - April 30, 2010
Thor - June 4, 2010
The First Avenger: Captain America - May 6, 2011
The Avengers - July 2011
Ant-Man - Writer/director engaged
Here is additional schedule I've made up, but suspect may come true:
Another Stab at The Hulk - May 2012
Iron Man Ruts Against Thor (see exclusive first shot above) - June 2013
The Avengers IV - August 2013
Darkhawk: Why Not? - July 2015
Hulk: No, This Time We Got It - May 2020
Hulk 5 - June 2020
Whoever's Left - 2020-?
Marvel Reports Q1 [Business Wire]
May 5 2008 'Iron Man' Was Seen by Many, Many People This Weekend
1. Iron Man - Apparently some people saw this iron character movie, and it made something like $100.8 million. Go figure.
2. Made of Honor - Maid $15.5 million this weekend. See what I did there? Used a nonsensical pun.
3. Baby Mama - $10.3 million, and it turns out the title has nothing to do with the ABC sitcom Dinosaurs and its hit Baby catchphrase, "Not the mama!"
4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - $6.1 million, meaning at least one more week for that Sarah Marshall in your office to continue with her stories of how she has to keep telling people she's not that Sarah Marshall, adding that she could be, though, because she's "driven over more than a few hearts along the road to middle age."
5. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - $6 million, down nearly 60% since it was revealed that neither Harold or Kumar build a high-tech iron suit to fight their way out of Guantanamo Bay.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Apr 17 2008 Cribs-Style Look at 'Iron Man', Future of Personal Transportation
After employing a couple trailers, an endless stream of TV spots, innumerable press photos, and disembodied heads as Slurpee containers to promote Iron Man, I imagine it's getting pretty tough to find any new way to promote the film. So I don't entirely blame director Jon Favreau for making this Cribs-style look at the set of Tony Stark's house; it was probably either this or some kind of "Build an Iron Man Suit!" reality competition. I do, however, blame him for cruising around in a Segway. Video after the jump.
Continue Reading " Cribs-Style Look at 'Iron Man', Future of Personal Transportation "
Apr 15 2008 'Iron Man': Great Trailer, but a Feature Film?
Iron Man has been one of the most popular, most-viewed trailers of the last year, but will it be able to maintain its integrity and hardcore fan-base if Hollywood adapts the two-minute preview into a full-length feature film? The always witty Onion News Network weighs in on the issue...
Continue Reading " 'Iron Man': Great Trailer, but a Feature Film? "
Apr 14 2008 'Iron Man' Sneak Peek: Meet Sprayee!
Just when you thought there was nothing on Nickelodeon except... whatever it is they air now (something with the pregnant Spears and maybe slime?), the network known for kids shows and sad, late-night reminiscing has aired two new minutes of footage from Iron Man. Which is strange, since a movie about a superhero fighting crime in a metal suit is clearly meant for a mature, adult audience. Watch the sneak peek below the cut and be introduced to Iron Man's wacky, Disney-style sidekick: a mute, indiscriminately-spraying, anthropomorphized fire extinguisher.
Apr 8 2008 New, Idiom-Based 'Iron Man' Clip
In this new clip from Iron Man, hear RDJ quietly whimper as he prematurely tests the flight capabilities of his suit, proclaiming, "Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk." I'm not sure why a heavy metal video game soundtrack repeatedly plays in the background; presumably it has something to do with running at all allusions to iron/metal before walking shamefully away from them.
Apr 2 2008 Iron Monger is Used to Fighting Half-a-Dozen Iron Men
Though it hasn't been heavily publicized, most of Iron Man is composed of scenes from The Princess Bride, recreated in metal suits. Above: Iron Westley slowly strangles Iron the Giant.
More new, small, heavily-watermarked shots here.
Feb 29 2008 New 'Iron Man' Trailer Continues Clever Use of 'Iron Man' in Soundtrack
As much I find Iron Man and his glib alter ego Tony Stark to be intolerable characters, I have to admit that Jon Favreau looks to have made a decent adaptation of the source material. And with a non-stop barrage of hard rock (AC/DC, Audioslave, Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", of course), constant alcohol imbibing, and the flagrant use of sports cars as backdrops, Iron Man looks to be the first superhero movie to fully capture the sensibilities of Maxim Magazine. The biggest surprise isn't that this looks like a surefire hit but that they didn't put Gwyneth Paltrow in a bikini. Make sure to watch this if you're a male 13 to 35. Otherwise, you're totally going to look like a gay.
Continue Reading " New 'Iron Man' Trailer Continues Clever Use of 'Iron Man' in Soundtrack "
Feb 4 2008 'Iron Man' Superbowl Spot Totally Flies
The superhero origin story is the typical kickstart to any attempt at a movie franchise, and I can understand its necessity--it can be hard to grasp that a man fights crime in an iron suit unless you see an hour of its construction and testing. But do we really need to be bombarded with the typical "whoa, these new powers are awesome!" scenes? The only things missing are Will Smith shouting, "Damn, I gotta get me one a'these!" and the Human Torch quipping, "Didn't I already do this scene in my terrible movie?"
The Iron Man preview plays out like a bad commercial for a video game peripheral, determined to show us what a modern miracle the Iron Man suit is, and how much scream-out-loud fun is had when using it. And after the glory of the new accessory is aptly proclaimed, we're finally treated to what I assume is footage of the Iron Man video game (packaged with the Iron Man Suit Peripheral). Because only a video game cut-scene would have such cheap graphics and ridiculously nonchalant action, right?
But despite my criticisms, by the end I realized that marketing this like a video game accessory is probably completely appropriate; it will make the massive hype and inevitable letdown much easier to compare to the Power Glove.
Continue Reading " 'Iron Man' Superbowl Spot Totally Flies "
Jan 23 2008 Another 'Iron Man' Shot For Your Collection
I don't want to dignify another boring image of Iron Man standing around with too much commentary, but I couldn't deny you the pleasure of collecting the whole set, and no collection is complete without the ultra-rare "Underpass Standing #2" shot.
New Iron Man Movie Photo [Marvel]
Jan 15 2008 'Iron Man' Has Electronics Affixed to His Arm
As Marvel explains on their website, "The buzz keeps bulding for May 2's Iron Man Movie!" And is it ever! How could it not be, now that we have a second (2nd!) photograph of Robert Downey Jr. with electronics strapped on his arm! It's even got some red plastic (iron?) attached to it now. Save something for the theater, guys!
Missed the first image of a cyborg arm? You're welcome.
2 New Iron Man Movie Photos [Marvel]
Jan 9 2008 Even More 'Iron Man' Stills
Thanks to /Film for the above image of Tony Stark trying out his Iron Man arm attachment thing, and to Yansky for these shots of the Mark-1 suit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Never has an LED TouchLight stuck to a palm looked more dramatic.
New Iron Man Photo [/Film]
Dec 27 2007 Woo. It's Iron Man Again. Standing.
Because of the holidays and all, it's a really slow news week, so here's a new image from Iron Man. It's just like the first image shown of the suit, except they somehow managed to make it even less interesting. Whereas before he was standing with one foot raised--poised for combat, I guess--in front of some smoke, now he's just standing there, still the foreground for smoke.
New Iron Man Photo [Coming Soon]
Dec 5 2007 New 'Iron Man' Photo Reveals Dollar Store Armor
Sorry to break it to you, Iron Man, but you are clearly not made of iron. At best, you're made of expensive plastic, and if you took off the helmet, you would appear to be a player in Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball.
New Iron Man Photo [First Showing]
