Iron Man (film)

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Current event marker This article or section contains information about one or more scheduled or expected films. The content may change as the film's release approaches and more information becomes available. Upcoming film
Iron Man

Iron Man teaser poster
Directed by Jon Favreau
Produced by Avi Arad
Kevin Feige
Written by Comic Book:
Stan Lee
Jack Kirby
Screenplay:
Arthur Marcum
Matthew Hollaway
Mark Fergus
Hawk Ostby
Starring Robert Downey Jr.
Terrence Howard
Gwyneth Paltrow
Jeff Bridges
Cinematography Matthew Libatique
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) May 2, 2008
Country Flag of United States United States
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Iron Man is a 2008 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Iron Man. The film is directed by Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. The film is slated for a May 2, 2008 release.

Contents

[edit] Premise

Tony Stark develops the three stages of the Iron Man armor, starting with "clunky, low-tech... diving bell armor" that he is forced to build in Afghanistan after being captured.[1] Stark eventually updates the armor to a flying suit with the red and gold scheme and finally attains a "weapons platform" stage with the armor.[2] Stark faces the villain The Mandarin.[3]

[edit] Cast and characters

Originally director Jon Favreau had stated his intent to cast a newcomer in the role of Anthony Stark, the man who designs the body armor and wears it to become Iron Man.[9] On September 28, 2006, Robert Downey Jr. was rumored to have been cast as Iron Man.[10] Favreau confirmed this news later in the day on his MySpace page.[11]

Iron Man's nemesis The Mandarin is yet to be cast. On October 10, 2006, Terrence Howard was confirmed to play Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes.[12] On October 15, 2006, Favreau posted a blog entry on the Iron Man Myspace page asking for fan input on who should play secretary Pepper Potts in the film.[13]

[edit] Production

In April 1990, Universal Pictures bought the rights to develop Iron Man for the big screen.[14] By February 1996, Twentieth Century Fox acquired the rights from Universal.[15] In January 1997, actor Nicolas Cage expressed interest in being cast for the lead role,[16] and in September 1998, actor Tom Cruise had expressed interest in producing as well as starring in the film debut of Iron Man.[17] Director Quentin Tarantino was approached in October 1999 to write and direct Iron Man.[18] With no deal made, Fox eventually sold the rights to New Line Cinema the following December.[19] By July 2000, the film was being written for the studio[20] by screenwriter Tim McCanlies.[21] New Line entered talks with Joss Whedon, a fan of the character Iron Man, in June 2001 for the possibility of the director taking the helm.[22] In December 2002, McCanlies had turned in a completed script.[23]

In December 2004, the studio attached director Nick Cassavetes to the project for a target 2006 release.[24] After two years of unsuccessful development, and the deal with director Cassavetes falling through, New Line Cinema returned the film rights to Marvel. Screenplay drafts had been written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and David Hayter, but they were not retained. In November 2005, Marvel worked to start development from scratch.[25]

On April 28, 2006, Avi Arad, chairman of Marvel Studios, announced that Jon Favreau would be directing Iron Man, with Paramount Pictures distributing. Favreau found an opportunity to create a politically ambitious "ultimate spy movie", with influences from Tom Clancy, James Bond and Robocop.[1] Filming began in March 2007[26] for May 2, 2008 release.[27] Favreau created a Myspace group for the purpose of keeping Iron Man fans informed. The director said on his blog, "The internet is full of faulty info. I wanted to have at least one place where the facts would be correct."

Iron Man comic book artist Adi Granov created the suit design for the film,[28] which was built by Stan Winston Studios.[29] Armor designs by graphic artist Brandon Perlow were considered by Iron Man's visual effects supervisor John Nelson but were later rejected.[30] Robert Downey Jr. will be involved with motion capture work eight months after the completion of filming in order to realistically portray the suited Iron Man's movements.[31]

After announcing the film's main villain, the Mandarin, at Comic-Con International on July 22, 2006, Favreau explained in an interview that the main villain the Mandarin would be altered for the big screen, as the comics' Mandarin did not fit what Favreau wanted to represent. Instead, the Mandarin would be more realistic while keeping the formidable persona that has been displayed in the comics.[32]

Filming began on March 12, 2007.[33] Downey said that the film will be shot entirely in California,[34] including the Playa Vista in the former Hughes Company soundstages.[35] The first few weeks are being spent on Stark's captivity in Afghanistan.[36]

Jeffrey Bridges prepared for his role as Obadiah Stane by shaving his head bald and growing a silver goatee.[37] In addition, Terrence Howard visited the Nellis Air Force Base on March 16, 2007, where he observed HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters and F-22 Raptors and ate with the base's airmen.[38]

[edit] Marketing

The Iron Man teaser poster was released at Comic-Con 2006, though Favreau said that the armor in the poster was not Iron Man's final design.[39]

In November 2006, Sega Corporation secured the exclusive rights to distribute and develop products based on Marvel's Iron Man property. In the partnership, Sega will develop and distribute multi-platform video game titles based on the comic book and film iterations of the superhero.[40] Hasbro will be handling the toy line.[41]

[edit] Sequel

Director Jon Favreau said that the first film's plot would not deal with Tony Stark's personal problems, such as alcoholism. Favreau noted that if there were sequels, Tony Stark's personal problems would be explored.[9] Favreau plans Iron Man to be the first in a trilogy, with all the actors signed on. In particular, Terrence Howard was cast as Jim Rhodes as Favreau felt he could also play War Machine.[42]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Ultimate Superhero Preview", Empire, 2006-09-29, pp. 90, 230. Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  2. ^ Schneider, Karl. "Mandarin is villain in Iron Man", Cinescape, 2006-07-24. Retrieved on July 28, 2006.
  3. ^ "CON: Iron Man scoop", JoBlo.com, 2006-07-22. Retrieved on July 23, 2006.
  4. ^ Shawn Adler. "Terrence Howard Reveals Power-Thirsty Side Of Iron Man's Sidekick", VH1, 2007-03-01. Retrieved on March 2, 2007.
  5. ^ Heather Newgen. "Terrence Howard on Iron Man", ComingSoon.net, 2007-03-02. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
  6. ^ "Paltrow is 'Iron' clad for Marvel", The Hollywood Reporter, 2007-01-17. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
  7. ^ Stax. "Bridges' Iron Man Role", IGN, 2007-03-09. Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
  8. ^ Stacy Todd. "Shaun Toub", Variety, 2007-02-21. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.
  9. ^ a b Stax. "The Unknown Iron Man", IGN, 2006-05-24. Retrieved on December 6, 2006.
  10. ^ "AICN EXCLUSIVE!! IRON MAN Has Found Its Tony Stark!!", Ain't It Cool News, 2006-09-28. Retrieved on September 28, 2006.
  11. ^ Favreau, Jon. "Iron Man Movie Group", MySpace, 2006-09-28. Retrieved on September 28, 2006.
  12. ^ Kilday, Gregg. "Howard flying to 'Iron Man'", The Hollywood Reporter, 2006-10-10. Retrieved on October 10, 2006.
  13. ^ Favreau, Jon (2006-10-14). Any Pepper ideas?. MySpace. Retrieved on October 16, 2006.
  14. ^ James Ryan. "Bam! Pow! Heroes take over the silver screen", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1990-04-14. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
  15. ^ Andrew Smith. "Gen X kids not bad on screen", The Commercial Appeal, 1996-02-18. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
  16. ^ "Film Clips Column", Journal Gazette, 1997-01-03. Retrieved on December 26, 2006.
  17. ^ Bill Radford. "Big screen gaining new ground as venue for comics creations", The Gazette, 1998-09-06. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
  18. ^ Jeff Vice. "Comic books poised for film incarnations", Deseret Morning News, 1999-10-03. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
  19. ^ Andrew Smith. "Superheroes lining up for millennium movie debuts", The Commercial Appeal, 1999-12-26. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
  20. ^ Warren Epstein. "X-guys could muscle up more Marvelous screen fare", The Gazette, 2000-07-09. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
  21. ^ Rodney Richey. "Warner Bros. goes 'Bat' to the Future", Los Angeles Daily News, 2000-09-25. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
  22. ^ Robert K. Elder. "All work and lots of slay", Chicago Tribune, 2001-06-01. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
  23. ^ Chris Garcia. "A firsthand look at 'Secondhand'", Austin American-Statesman, 2002-12-06. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
  24. ^ "Nick Cassavetes to Direct New Line Cinema and Marvel's Iron Man", New Line Cinema, 2004-12-10. Retrieved on July 28, 2006.
  25. ^ Fritz, Ben. "Marvel steels itself for 'Iron'", Variety, 2005-11-02. Retrieved on July 28, 2006.
  26. ^ Faraci, Devin. "EIGHT WEEKS TO IRON MAN", CHUD, 2007-01-18. Retrieved on January 21, 2007.
  27. ^ "Marvel Studios seals iron-clad deal", Guardian Unlimited, 2006-10-06. Retrieved on October 6, 2006.
  28. ^ "SDCC '06: The Future of Marvel's Film Franchises Panel", Newsarama. Retrieved on July 29, 2006.
  29. ^ Stax. "Iron Man's Armor: Who is building the suit?", IGN, 2007-01-16. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
  30. ^ Holtreman, Vic. "Rejected Iron Man Movie Armor Concepts", ScreenRant.com, 2006-09-15. Retrieved on October 6, 2006.
  31. ^ Douglas, Edward. "Robert Downey Jr. Talks Iron Man", SuperHeroHype.com, 2006-11-07. Retrieved on November 7, 2006.
  32. ^ "Exclusive: Jon Favreau forges 'Iron Man'", Comics2Film. Retrieved on July 28, 2006.
  33. ^ Marvel Entertainment. "Funding Initiated for Iron Man Movie", Superherohype.com, 2007-02-28. Retrieved on February 28, 2007.
  34. ^ Kevin West. "Mr. Clean", Style. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  35. ^ Scott Raab. "May God Bless and Keep Robert Downey Jr.", Esquire, 2007-02-21. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.
  36. ^ Jon Favreau. "Jon Favreau on Iron Man filming", Superherohype.com, 2007-03-19. Retrieved on March 19, 2007.
  37. ^ Mike Szymanski. "Bridges Is Iron Man's Stane", Sci Fi Wire, 2007-03-09. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.
  38. ^ Bruce Rolfsen. "‘Iron Man’ pilot to hit big screen", Air Force Times, 2007-03-21. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.
  39. ^ "UPDATE: The Iron Man Poster From Comic-Con", SuperHeroHype.com, 2006-07-24. Retrieved on July 26, 2006.
  40. ^ Cordeira, Jim. "Sega and Marvel hook up for Iron Man", Gaming Age, 2006-11-06. Retrieved on November 6, 2006.
  41. ^ "The Biz: Marvel Powers Up Iron Man, Incredible Hulk For 2008", Brandweek, 2007-02-26. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  42. ^ Quint. "Quint visits the IRON MAN production offices! Art! Favreau speaks about sequels (?!?), casting and more!!!", AICN, 2007-02-09. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.

[edit] External links

 v • d • e Marvel Comics films
Live action Single films

Howard the Duck (1986) • The Punisher (1989) • Captain America (1991) • The Fantastic Four (1994) • Ghost Rider (2007) • Iron Man (2008) • Luke Cage (TBA) • Namor (TBA) • Ant-Man (TBA)
Franchises

Blade: Blade (1998) • Blade II (2002) • Blade: Trinity (2004)
Daredevil: Daredevil (2003) • Elektra (2005)
Fantastic Four: Fantastic Four (2005) • Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
The Hulk: Hulk (2003) The Incredible Hulk (2008)
The Punisher: The Punisher (2004) • The Punisher 2 (TBA)
Spider-Man: Spider-Man (2002) • Spider-Man 2 (2004) • Spider-Man 3 (2007)
X-Men: X-Men (2000) • X2: X-Men United (2003) • X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) • Wolverine (TBA) • Magneto (TBA)
Animated Single films

The Invincible Iron Man (2007) • Doctor Strange (2007) • Teen Avengers (TBA)
Franchises

The Ultimates: Ultimate Avengers (2006) • Ultimate Avengers 2 (2006)
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