Personally, I thought the TV show was the worst.
Posted on 05/05/2008 7:35:28 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Buoyed by the blockbuster success of "Iron Man" over the weekend, Marvel Studios on Monday announced plans for a string of superhero properties, including an "Iron Man" sequel set for April 2010.
"Iron Man 2" will be followed in June 2010 by the big-screen adaptation of another of Marvel's popular comic book characters, "Thor," the mighty, hammer-wielding hero based on the Nordic god of the same name, the company said.
"Captain America" and "The Avengers" are next in line for the summer of 2011.
The nearly $99 million opening weekend of "Iron Man," Marvel's first fully self-financed production, gave Hollywood's summer movie season a solid start and set the stage for a robust earnings report from the studio's corporate parent, Marvel Entertainment Inc.
Drawing largely favorable reviews, "Iron Man" stars Robert Downey Jr. as billionaire industrialist and playboy Tony Stark, who wrestles with a mid-life crisis as he invents a high-tech suit of armor that transforms him into a superhero.
Kevin Feige, head of production for Marvel Studios, said Downey would return in the sequel as part of his three-picture deal for the franchise. Feige said the gifted actor deserved much of the credit for the film's broad appeal.
"It's great to see a sold-out audience that you know is made up of comic book fans and people who had never read an 'Iron Man' comic in their life," he said.
Marvel shares soared nearly 10 percent on Monday as the company reported first-quarter profits above market estimates and raised its 2008 financial outlook.
Costing about $150 million to make, "Iron Man" was distributed by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures studio, which footed the $75 million marketing bill for the movie and received a flat fee for its efforts.
The same arrangement will apply for "Iron Man 2" and an upcoming film based on "Captain America," the iconic crime-fighter created in 1941.
That film, now titled "The First Avenger: Captain America," is slated for release in May 2011, to be followed by "The Avengers," based on a team of Marvel heroes that has included Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, in July of that year.
'IRON MAN' PROVES BOX OFFICE METTLE
An adaptation of Marvel's "Ant-Man" character also is in development. But with the coveted summer movie release dates for 2009 already well booked by other studios, Marvel has no self-produced films scheduled to open next year.
Instead, the company said it would "focus its attention on maximizing the success of an 'Iron Man' sequel and the launch of 'Thor' in the summer of 2010."
The final Friday-through-Sunday tally for "Iron Man" came to $98.6 million, down slightly from the $100 million-plus studio estimate reported on Sunday.
But even without an additional $3.5 million grossed from Thursday "previews," the film easily exceeded the debut weekends of sequels to two other hit Marvel franchises -- "Spider-Man 2" and "X2: X-Men United" ($88.2 million and $85.6 million, respectively).
"Iron Man" also ranks as the second-biggest domestic debut ever for a non-sequel movie, a record set by the first "Spider-Man" with $114.8 million in May 2002. "Spider-Man 3" stands as the top movie opening of all time -- $151 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales its first weekend in May 2007.
"Iron Man" also proved its international mettle, grossing nearly $97 million from overseas openings in 57 foreign markets and claiming the No. 1 box office spot in most of those.
Although the studio has no movies in the works for release next year, three animated TV series are set to debut in 2008 based on Marvel's Iron Man, Hulk and X-Men titles.
The very next Marvel film slated for release is "The Incredible Hulk," headed to theaters next month as a remake based on the oversized, green brute originally brought to the big screen in a 2003 commercial dud directed by Ang Lee.
Actually, Winters is still alive.
Maybe he could play cloak and Patricia Heaton could play Dagger.
(I’m mentioning Heaton because she just turned 50 but she could still pull off the spandex. Substitute Nikki Blonsky if you need a laugh.)
Couldn’t agree more, “Iron Man” was excellent. And I don’t care for the genre, so was pretty sure I wouldn’t enjoy it. And I was especially not going to like Ms. Paltrow, one of my least favorite actresses (and she names her kids weird things, a double whammy). But I was wrong, and was quite surprised at how great all four of the main cast members were, including Jeff Bridges. I’ll look forward to the sequel.
Thanks, I’ll check that out.
Actually, I've been very impressed with the writing in Ultimate Avengers.
YES, YES BABY, WE HAVE A WINNER!
Marvel doesn’t hold all the movie rights to all of their characters at the moment. Prior to Iron Man, all of the movies were produced by studios/production companies that licensed the rights to certain characters. Where they were especially successful, like Spider-Man and X-Men, the studios either still hold the rights or are exercising options to retain them for a certain period. Hulk was the exception, due to the Ang Lee film underperforming. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Daredevil come back to Marvel for the same reason (which I’m sure wouldn’t have been the case had Fox had the sense to release the director’s cut of the film).
Have your people Blackberry my people. We’ll hammer out a deal memo over at Morrie’s, over a nosh. Kiss kiss, sweetheart! ;)
Personally, I thought the TV show was the worst.
Watch the kissing...my wife is already worried that you’re going to cut in on her action. She’s really worried since she saw the photos of you’re astonishingly extensive collection of Liberace memorabilia.
By the way, did you stay in the theater until after the Iron Man credits were over? Here's who made a memorable cameo.
No offence to the comic fans but this just demonstrates how out of ideas the Hollywood types are. Pathetic...
Given that they’re making separate films for Iron Man, Cap, Thor and the Hulk, I’d say it’s reasonable to speculate that the Avengers movie will use the original line-up.
I haven't seen it yet...
Define "extensive." I only have one of the hands mummified in formaldehyde, after all. ;)
It’s apparently going to be Scott Lang, with Pym appearing in flashbacks as the original Ant-Man.
Stay until after the end credits are over. Marvel put an easter egg all the way at the end.
Cable and X-Force... showed a lot of promise when Liefield was still on board, but then when Image comics was created we had artists who couldn’t write (Liefield & McFarlane) and Marvel’s X-Force just became plain retarded... Cable... a robot? Get real...
They’re making a Green Lantern film for 2010, I think. Personally, I call for David Conrad of Ghost Whisperer fame to be Hal. He’s got the look as far as I’m concerned.
Guy Gardner... I liked the re-created DC universe after Crisis... then unable to resist their own penchant for campiness, Myxlplyx showed up in an issue of Superman. All downhill from there...
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