Jon Favreau Makes Plea About "Iron Man 2"

"Iron Man" director Jon Favreau, also known for films like "Swingers" and "Elf," has posted a plea of sorts to Marvel and Paramount over "Iron Man 2," a sequel that has been announced, along with the release date of April 30, 2010. The announcement was made the Monday after "Iron Man" debuted to huge box office.

On Favreau's MySpace page, he fields fan questions, one of whom wrote, "Any good news on contract talks between you and Marvel yet?"

This is Favreau's response on the afternoon of Monday, June 9:

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 [Downey, Jr] 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.

"The Incredible Hulk" opens Friday.

Comments

[hilts]

Movies based on comic books are the dumbest movies being made. They're aimed at audiences with IQs lower than Barack Obama's bowling score. Favreau and Downey are tarnishing their careers with this garbage and should be ashamed of themselves.

[quixoto]

Normally I would agree with you but...

Wait, no I wouldn't!
You're an idiot!

[ReelBusy]

Mission accomplished Jon.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/regarding-all-those-iron-man-2-rumors/

[Obamican7]

I heard part of the reason Jon is hesitant to rush into IM2 is because he's also working on a screen-adaptaton of The Nuttcups. Of course, most of the work involved will be trying to make it work underneath an R-rating.

[jood42]

Way to stand up for quality, Jon! Stick to your guns.

[Ping]

Jon, I'm a big fan but, Iron Man was a big disappointment. Why don't you let someone else take a whack at it.

[Chazzam]

What exactly were you looking for from Iron Man that it qualified as a "big disappointment"? I found it to be one of the better comic-based movies of the past several years, with strong performances, nuanced direction and convincing effects. It is certainly vastly superior to Spidey 3 or X-Men 3, FF-2(Silver Surfer) and much more compelling­/intellige­nt than Superman Returns. Only Batman Begins (of the past couple years) stands out as comparable in the last couple years (in first reflection) amongst hero flicks.

[westreal]

Why do people bring up Batman Begins as a comparison? That movie put me to sleep and watching it on cable was torture. How could they get that movie wrong? On the other hand Iron Man is an instant classic.

[Ping]

Iron Man could not decide if it was an action flick or a comedy. Also the fight scenes were straight out of transformers.

Iron man did not put me at the edge of my seat. I more or less yawned through it. Boring.

[Bettysdad]

There are few people in Hollywood more overrated than Favreau.

[Matango]

Don't cry. Your script about robots taking over the world in a post-apocalyptic future will eventually be read.

[scottellington]

A director who's "strictly business" might have tolerated Robert Downey, Junior's enthusiasm for the role (that resulted in a brilliant performance), but the wonderful vitality that RtD2 brought to the film would probably have been left on the cutting room floor BEFORE footage went to CGI, where an inspired, improvising actor just adds to cost of a risky proposition like IRON MAN, the movie.
Downey, Favreau and the CGI wizards collaborated, incorporating live performance into graphic illustration. And it worked incredibly well to tell a story of redemption that should have suffered from the mandatory origin-stuff, and an acting instrument smothered in exotic alloys.

That's why I think of this film as IRONyMAN, because it really really works in spite of the dozen reasons it shouldn't.
Well that, and the fact that everything Tony Stark invents is eventually used against him. This movie sent me back to the books...after 40 years. Favreau is a collaborative, moviemaking superhero. If Marvel doesn't pay attention, Marvel loses.

[Heathnyy5]

I hope that Marvel and Paramount don't make this into a big deal and replace Favreau over it. The thing is that the studios and Marvel, too, don't really care about continuity or if people like the movie as long as the movie makes money. X-Men 3 was (in my opinion) certainly weaker than the first two movies, but it made more money than the others did so the studio did not care; as far as they cared they made the right decision to go with Rattner. However, at least in that case the studio had more of a right to be angry as they were keeping a consistent schedule with the X-Men movies (each one three-years apart) and Bryan Singer was putting that at risk. With this, Marvel and Paramount are interested in changing the date to get a movie out there and Favreau is fighting against it not because of his other projects, but because unlike the studio he is extremely interested in the quality of his films.

Jon Favreau is not yet making any demands, but in Hollywood they don't take kindly to people who don't play the game while keeping their mouths shut. He should look to Spider-Man 2 as an example of what can still be accomplished even with only two-years between films.

[AdultFilmLegend]

That was a great movie. I took my kids to see it three times. The last two were for me.

[TALLEST]

The idiots in charge will prob fast track it and get some hack like Brett RATner to direct and ruin the movie just like X-Men 3. I hope Downey jr.sticks with Favreau and they get this done right. It'll be worth the wait.

[speakyourmind]

I just can't say enough about Jon Favreau. I think he is just fantastic. His vision as a filmmaker has nuance, humor, and he is able to convey the vulnerability in his main characters. Just love his work completely. I hope he does read this blog.

[ElPerro]

I've been a huge fan of Favreau's since Swingers, so seeing him reach this level of succes is gratifying. Ironically, I have also been a huge Sam Rami fan since Evil Dead, so I enjyed watching his star reach stratospheric levels with yet another Marvel Comics character.

[THINKB4USPEAK]

Growing up, I war lucky enough be there at the birth of Marvel comics. I read the original Fantastic Four story which led to their own, log-running mag (ten cents).Same for Spiderman, Hulk, etc. Early Marvel broke the predictable, monotonous comic formula practiced by DC, among others, by creating heros with human faults and weaknesses.They were sometimes uncertain, paranoid, just pissed off... they were just like us. Anyone who knows anything about early Marvel knows that Jack Kirby was the heart and soul(not to belittle Steve Ditko and others), and Stan lee was just along for the ride. Proof of this is easily seen when Jack left for more control of his creations; Marvel sales slumped accutely, while tired old DC got recharged and jumped back into the game. All I need to prove to me that the Stan Lee Marvel is more about the cash than the creativity is to remember Jack "THE KING" Kirby.

[THINKB4USPEAK]

I mean, "I WAS lucky enough...".

[HatingTheGame]

And "long" running ;-)

Nice reading of the Marvel legacy down memory lane. Thank you.

[ProfessorDuh]

Marvel should listen to Favreau and Downey, and listen carefully. They know exactly what they're doing in a very difficult genre in which to make a decent film.

[DanOregon]

I was really happy to see Favreau score big with Iron Man. I've always figured when they make these big budget special effects movies they plot it for at least a trilogy. Don't they have a number of comic books to base a story on? And they still need to give Ghostface Killah something to do. My only surprise is that Favreau is surprised, he's been around Hollywood long enough to realize what doofs they are.
And if Favreau is reading this, I'm available to write the script. I'll give him a good rate and get it turned around by September.