Deadline is reporting that Shane Black is in “final negotiations” to direct Iron Man 3, though there’s no official word yet from Marvel Studios. Black is primarily known as the writer of action films including Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout, but there’s no indication yet if he’ll be working on a screenplay draft as well.
Black was first linked to the film last week in a post from The Hollywood Reporter, at that point described as one of many candidates being considered. Black previously worked with Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. in the well-receiced 2005′s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang film, to date his only directorial credit. Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director and supporting cast member Jon Favreau confirmed that he would not be directing Iron Man 3 last December.
Keep reading for news of any official confirmation. Iron Man 3 has a targeted release date of May 3, 2013; a year after The Avengers, co-starring Downey Jr. as Iron Man and with Favreau serving as an executive producer.
February 17th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
“The Last Boy Scout” was terrible but “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” was great. Soooo… its a wait and see for me but this looks like a good choice at first glance.
February 17th, 2011 at 6:52 pm
I’ve never seen either of those movies… I just hope IM3 is LOTS better than IM2 was. Colossal disappointment, given how good the first one was. Please, bring in The Mandarin and, please, no more goofy, villainous arms merchants. Or Mickey Rourke either.
February 17th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
My favorite screenwriter on IM3? YES YES YES!
And The Last Boy Scout is awesome. Joe Hallenbeck is my second favorite Bruce Willis character, as a matter of fact.
February 17th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
Well, it makes sense that they would court a writer/director who has specialized in blending action-movie scenarios with the light tone and quick rhythms of screw-ball comedy. This sounds like an improvement over Favreau.
February 18th, 2011 at 12:21 am
If you want to see a great Shane Black script watch The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) with Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson at their youthful best. I’ve liked Shane’s work for a long time. I met him years ago at Comicon when he bought some Operator 5 pulps from me. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is one of my favorite movies and I think the well written role well played by Robert Downey Jr insured his comeback as a film star. I expect Downey recommended Shane Black to the studio. And of course Shane Black is remembered for his 1987 role as Hawkins, one of the main supporting characters in Predator who gets offed in the jungle by the alien.
February 18th, 2011 at 3:17 am
@James: It had escaped me all these years that it was Shane Black in Predator cracking all of those amazingly bad jokes. I guess I learned something today. I will second your recommendation of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and add my appreciation for his satirical script to Last Action Hero, the Hot Fuzz of the nineties. The trailer for Arnold’s Hamlet in that one never fails to crack me up.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:57 am
Looks like this is official. Very cool.