Iron Man 2—Stat!
The bigger they are, the harder they fall it is to resist making a sequel.
In Marvel's case, it won't even try with Iron Man. Three days after the superhero movie opened, and one day after its weekend gross topped $100 million, the comics giant turned movie mogul announced Iron Man 2 will hit theaters April 30, 2010.
No details were announced. But the principals of Iron Manstars Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard and director Jon Favreau, among themhave been talking for quite a while as if a sequel was going to happen and as if they were going to help make it happen.
Apparently in a really good mood, Marvel also set a June 4, 2010, release date for Thor, based on its hammer-toting hero of Norse god tradition, and penciled in a Captain America movie and an Avengers movie for 2011.
The former is tentatively titled The First Avenger: Captain America and is set to open May 6, 2011. The latter is simply called The Avengers and is due to targeted to open sometime in July 2011.
Marvel also reasserted its commitment to Ant-Man, noting that writers and a directorShaun of the Dead's Edgar Wrighthave been "engaged." But no release date was announced.
Ant-Man might be the biggest loser in the Iron Man juggernaut. Speculation was that the sometimes-diminutive hero would get his big-screen closeup in 2010. With today's announcements, even 2011 seems unlikely.
Still, Ant-Man is a member of the Avengers and would seem to be a lock for an invite to that group's movie, which, by rights, would costar Captain America, Thor, The Hulk and Iron Man.
Earlier this year, Favreau called an Avengers movie "a great idea," and expressed interest in directing it, MTV's website reported. But so far, no cast, no director and no writers have been announced.
All of today's announced filmsIron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers and Ant-Manwill be produced by Marvel and distributed by Paramount.
The lineup doesn't include the other Marvel movies on the way: The Incredible Hulk, due out June 13; Punisher: War Zone, due out Dec. 5; and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, set for May 1, 2009.
Perhaps so as to avoid whipping rival DC Comics so soundly, Marvel has declared 2009 a year of restor at least it won't release one of its self-produced films that year.
The superhero factory can spend the downtime counting its Iron Man riches. Per the final weekend numbers released today, the movie grossed $102.1 million from Friday to Sundaythe 10th biggest opening in Hollywood history. Add in the foreign box office, and the film's weekend take stands at nearly $200 million.
Memo to The Hulk: If you want your own sequel and not just a part in The Avengers, your opening weekend better show some Iron Man heart. And bank.
Captain America To Be Set During World War II
Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige revealed today that the Captain America movie will be a period film, set during World War II. I’ve never read any Captain America, but some of my friends who are really into the series have insisted that a WWII period setting would be the only way to do the story justice.
This basically confirms that Marvel will be sticking close to the original origin story which involved Steve Rogers volunteering to be a test subject in Operation: Rebirth, a top-secret defense project for the U.S. Army. Rogers took a Super-Soldier serum which altered his physiology, turning him into a “nearly perfect human being”. Unable to duplicate the process, the United States government turned Rogers into a superhero who served as “both a counter-intelligence agent and a propaganda symbol to counter Nazi Germany’s head of terrorist operations, the Red Skull.”
The First Avenger: Captain America (and not Captain America: The First Avenger, which sounds infinitely better) is scheduled to hit theaters in May 6th 2011, just weeks before Marvel’s superhero team-up film The Avengers hits screens in July. It’s assumed that the film will likely end with a cliffhanger. In the comic series The Avengers discovered Steve Rogers’ body in a block of ice in the North Atlantic years after his supposed death, and were able to revive him. It’s assumed that a similar situation will probably happen to bridge the two movies, especially considering that The Avengers takes place in modern day. But Feige promises that you won’t need to see any of the other films to understand The Avengers:
“Each of them have to stand on their own,” Feige said. “You won’t have to have seen any of the films to understand The Avengers… but it will help.”
Feige also confirmed that Matthew McConaughey is not in consideration for the film adaptation as was rumored on CinemaBlend weeks back. That should make fans happy. You can read more about Feige’s “State of the Marvel Address” on CHUD.
Zak Penn Talks Captain America And Young X-Men!
For the past 5 years Zak Penn has been a writer on X2, Elektra, X-Men 3 and upcoming The Incredible Hulk. After doing all of those comic book movies he decided to do something different, and has written and directed a comedy called The Grand. However, during interviews people only care about his work on comic book movies. During a recent interview, Zak Penn revealed that he was attached to the Captain America movie, and he also talked about a young X-Men movie.
CMix: Do you have anything to do with the other movies? Captain America for example?
ZP: I’m attached to it. I’m also supposed to write and direct one of the X-Men spin-off movies for Fox, but that’s not a Marvel film. It’s not a pure Marvel movie. It’s a Fox thing.
CMix: One of the X-Men spin-off movies? Any one in particular?
ZP: Yeah, it’s like a young X-Men. It’s a pretty cool idea, actually. I can’t sell you the whole idea, but it involves a younger group of X-Men at the beginning.
CMix: You mean, like an X-Men: First Class kind of thing?
ZP: It is a little bit like that. I don’t want to give away the concept of it, but it is a good idea. It is a little bit more of getting back to the classic X-Men. Some of the complaints we’ve talked about, it would address those directly.
CMix: Will it be all Wolverine’s story?
ZP: Right, well that’s the thing. It wouldn’t involve Wolverine.
An X-Men movie without Wolverine? Thank the heavens!
I like Zak Penn but Marvel need to realise that there are other writers out there. His movies are good but not great. X-Men 3 could have been better and Elektra wasn’t all that. I guess we will have to see if The Incredible Hulk is any good.
To read the whole interview click here!