Favreau: 2010 release for Iron Man 2 ’seems unrealistic’
Although Marvel Studios has set Iron Man 2 for an April 2010 release, and co-star Terrence Howard has said filming will begin next March, director Jon Favreau said yesterday that “seems unrealistic.”
Answering questions from fans on his MySpace page, Favreau wrote:
It’s been five weeks since the one and only phone call my reps have gotten from Marvel. I know their hands are full with the Hulk and I’m sure they will get into it shortly, as they tell me they intend to. I ran into the Marvel guys at the Hulk premiere and everyone sounded eager to get to work on IM2.
I am concerned, however, about the announced release date of April 2010. Neither Robert nor I were consulted about this and we are both concerned about how realistic the date is in light of the fact that we have no script, story or even writers hired yet. This genre of movie is best when it is done thoughtfully and with plenty of preparation. It might be better to follow the BB/DK, X/X2 three year release pattern than to scramble for a date. It is difficult because there are no Marvel 09 releases and they need product, but I also think we owe it to the fans to have a great version of IM2 and, at this point, we would have less time to make it than the first one.
Later in the thread, Favreau addressed a question about the much-discussed appearance of Captain America’s shield in a scene from Iron Man. It seems it wasn’t the well-planned Easter egg that some have believed it to be.
“ILM [Industrial Light and Magic] surprised us with it and we kept it in,” Favreau wrote.
The Ticker
• Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation are bringing a live-action/animated Smurfs to the big screen. Best known in the United States for the 1980s Hanna-Barbera animated series, The Smurfs were created in 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Peyo. David Stem and David Weiss, who wrote the second and third Shrek films, are in negotiations to pen the screenplay. [Variety]
• The Incredible Hulk’s Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and Louis Leterrier interview each other using questions from fans. [Moviefone]
• Variety’s editor in chief shrugs off early reactions to The Incredible Hulk — He starts the column with, “The dweebs may not like the effects” — and incurs the wrath of commenters. It’s funny. [Variety]
• Director M. Night Shyamalan explains why he wants to adapt the popular animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender: “I loved the characters in the story and I felt like I could be me inside this larger canvas of this very long-form movie. I think it inherently had kind of family issues and serious larger topics — at the center, genocide — all kinds of stuff. Cultural differences at the center. It has Buddhism, Hinduism, things I’m interested in. It does have martial arts in a way that’s not bang bang bang, but more about the person mastering yourself and the things that I love. I took martial arts for a long time. A ten-year-old at the center. That point of view felt good, like I could do my thing.” [Coming Soon]
June 10th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Not a chance Marvel will listen to Favreau. He’s making way too much sense.
June 10th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I’m pretty sure that there is a Marvel release in ‘09: the Wolverine spinoff (even though it’s being poduced by 20th Century Fox).
And yeah, he’s right. But I doubt that Marvel will budge from their ambitious release schedule. It would be a shame if Iron Man 2 came out half-assed because of this.
June 10th, 2008 at 11:18 am
There was a two-year space between Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. They even started filming the El-Train fight in 2002 before the script was completed.
Filming some supercool fight or stunt scenes before the script is finished can be tricky (like in Mission Impossible 2, where Robert Towne had to write the script about the action sequences John Woo wanted to do). But I think a few “big” scenes can be done before the script is done. They can dub in any Iron Man dialog easily enough.
June 10th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I think the distinction is that the Wolverine movie isn’t a Marvel Studios release; it’s from 20th Century Fox.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
They really can’t put together a 2 hour movie in 22 months???
From earlier reports about Marvel movies, it seems like there is a domino effect in when these movies appear, and IM2 needs to come out before Avengers 1, which Marvel definitely wants to come out in summer 2010. Plus, Downey isn’t gettting any younger, and if he needs to be around for 2 more IM movies and possibly two or three Avengers movies, we’re talking 7, 8 years at least. I really don’t want to see a 60yr old Tony Stark in Avengers 3.
June 10th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Favreau makes a lot of sense. I think Marvel should look at other properties and give the man some time to put out a proper sequel.
June 10th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I’m sure Zak Penn can write IRON MAN 2 in three weeks, if that.
For all the credit Favreau takes, the fact is… he’s inessential to Marvel movies. All the attention is to Marvel Studios doing a great job, not Favreau. He’s kind of like a non-exclusive creator, he can say what he wants but it isn’t his show at all.
And why’s he raising a stink about it now? Marvel announced the release date the Monday after IRON MAN came out. He’s whining to fans because he doesn’t have the job. It’s kind of like when Bryan Singer couldn’t get the SUPERMAN RETURNS SOME MORE job until the first one made $200 million. Except there’s no scuttlebutt on at what point Favreau will get the IM2 job (like there was with Singer). Maybe because he’s infinitely replaceable and Marvel doesn’t want to pay his new, post director of a $300-mil blockbuster fee.
What remains to be seen is Marvel was smart enough to keep their cast together. I mean, who wants to see IRON MAN 2 starring John Stamos as Tony Stark, Pamela Anderson as Pepper and Terrence Howard.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Can someone explain a “live action/animated” Smurf movie to me?
June 10th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
“Live action/animated” may be like Roger Rabbit with “live” actors and animated Smurfs alongside them.
One of the most unusual sentences I’ve ever written…
June 10th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
“which Marvel definitely wants to come out in summer 2010.”
Wrong. They want it to come out in 2011. It goes:
Iron Man 2: 2010
Thor: late 2010 or 2011
Captain America” 2011
Avengers: 2011
“What remains to be seen is Marvel was smart enough to keep their cast together. I mean, who wants to see IRON MAN 2 starring John Stamos as Tony Stark, Pamela Anderson as Pepper and Terrence Howard.”
Oddly enough I do.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Smurfs will be live action/animated like the Scooby-Doo movies were. I’m guessing that’s what they mean. Gargamel, or however you spell his name, and other human characters will be played by real people but the smurfs, and possibly Azrael the cat will be computer animated. I saw the computer animation for it on some site but I don’t remember what one.
June 11th, 2008 at 2:08 am
I’d rather they take their time and produce a good movie than rush things to fit some grouping movies schedule.
and yes Wolverine while a marvel property is being made by Fox rather than Marvel Studios exclussivly like Iron Man is.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Calling it now: we won’t see Iron Man 2 in April 2010, but it’ll instead be a Christmas release.