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

[Siryn]

I am wishing they would give him Daredevil and Elektra to re-do.

[Myshkin57]

They need someone to redo those. Those should have easily translated to the screen. How can you mess up Daredevil? He's a pulp hero. It's well-traveled material, so it's not as tough to sell to audiences.

[repugnicansfearme]

This is news WHY??? Isnt this guy just another son of another producer/director who clawed his way to the top of the prep school honor roll? Big DEAL.

[brunodiaz]

Ha. Geeks like me care. And for the record, Favreau's the son of two school teachers. I hope he gets his way. The guy's a true pro and I like the respect he gives to the material. Yeah, it's a comic book movie, but it's considered one of the best of the genre for a reason.

[ProfessionalGun]

Favreau is extremely good at what he does - and he's breathing life into a dead motion picture industry. If I had the choice between watching a movie he felt he had enough time to make just right, or to watch something that Hollywood forced out the door just to fill a summer movie quota, which do you think I'd choose? This is less of a statement about one movie - and more about how Hollywood SHOULD be considering quality franchises. . . instead of destroying them over and over and over again just to make a quick buck.

[GregSolo]

It's news to me...and good news. Iron Man is an unexpectedly awesome movie. You should check it out. Might tone down some of your bitterness. Favreau probably got a break in the beginning, but then he earned it.

[speakyourmind]

No, you are mistaken. Jon Favreau is an extremely talented director AND actor. He "clawed his way" to success the old fashioned way. He and Vince Vaughn go way back and came to Hollywood together. They both earned their chops by DOING. While you sit at your computer spewing.

[repugnicansfearme]

It's a movie based on a comic book, a**wipe. We're not talking War and Peace here. "He and Vince Vaughn go way back and came to Hollywood together"-- REALLY, NO! you are kidding! Who are you? The official biographer?

[Forester]

quit whining and get to work.

[onlinesavant]

Are you a Republican ? Because only someone with the regressive mentality could miss a so obvious point because they believe that everyone is lazy (Besides them.). The point is not that he does'nt want to work.The point is he wants to do the work the right way. Especially in a way that respects not only the product, but the customer. You may not be a regressive, but you surely have no artistic compass. If you did, you would understand that the best work is work done with passion. The point that Mr. Favreau is making essentially, is that when you do work simply to satiate avarice, it never as respected as work that is done to meet the challenge of living up to one's talents

[JuniorBug]

Republicans aren't really into the whole "prevention" thing. If Favreau's rushed and ends up making a subpar product, they'll just punish him for it later.

[ProfessorDuh]

Exactly. Republicans don't get art. I guess all that greed blots out the aesthetic sense, making them turn to Tammy Wynette CDs and dogs-playing-poker paintings.

[lm945]

I've never been into movies based on comic books, but "Ironman" is brilliant. Well written, well acted, well directed. I've already seen it twice.

If the people who actually physically make the film need more time to produce a good product, they should have it. We've all seen what happens when a film is rushed into the theatres before it's ready.

[jmyoung666]

Marvel did this with X3. I believe they had three years, but even though they changed directors twice and went through substantial script changes they stuck to a the announced date regardless.

Marvel, a good movie is more important than sticking to arbitrary dates. It;s funny that the comic book division forgives all sorts of lateness on the parts of the books, but they will set an opening date in stone without a script.

[Siryn]

It is more important to bring good product than to rush it through. I boycotted X3 after they pulled in Brett Ratner. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to seeing it on cable.

[colddoseofsumthin]

bret ratner should be banished to a faraway island. how do hacks like this because A list?

[getoffthecross]

HuffPost's Pick

Ah, Marvel...n­ever quick enough to kill a good thing.

Back in the 80s, when the hard core vigilante hero was becoming the "in" thing with characters like the Punisher and Batman going really dark, Marvel clued in to the fact that they had one of the most popular instances of this in Wolverine.­..and wouldn't you know it, EVERY comic book started to co-star Wolverine. Wolverine with Spider-Man, Wolverine as a temporary member of the Fantastic Four, Wolverine and Dazzler together again!

Then the X-Men movie came out, and he hit a new popularity with movie fans. So what do they do? Follow up with an excellent movie (X2), before destroying the franchise with the Last Stand, wherein they killed off Cyclops and gave his lines (and emotions) to Wolverine, figuring the viewing public wouldn't know the difference. They did. (Which doesn't mean they aren't continuing to mine the well, with a Wolverine Origins movie due out this time next year.)

I hope Fav sticks to his guns. I'd rather wait and get something like the X-Men and Spiderman sequels (the 2s, not the 3s) than get something like Fantastic Four (1 or 2), Ghostrider, Daredevil, Elektra, Punisher, or any of the other misfires. The cast and crew did too much good to have it undermined by corporate greed. They should take a swim in the half-billion Iron Man has made so far and relax. It'll get made when it gets made.

[ReelBusy]

Marvel's actions highlight the difference between a real movie studio with a full slate of development and the pretend studio Marvel is trying to be with only comic properties to produce.

The BB/DK and X/X2 models that Jon outlined work because a real studio can take the time necessary to make the film right. Marvel has only a few properties that Kevin Feige and Marvel can develop.
Lesson - Movies are a Volume Business

Inside Hollywood Marvel topper Kevin Feige is famously known for not being "good with talent". (Five weeks and no call back to your new Franchise Director? Way to go Kevin.)
Lesson - Relationships Matter.

This type of talk is usually a signal that Marvel feels like they can take or leave Jon (and maybe Robert) as the franchise moves forward. (Executive Idea of the Week - "Anyone can wear a metal suit!")
Lesson - Anyone Can Ruin Anything.

Jon has enough experience to know this, the reason he made this a public issue, to complete his contract negotiations, leverage his influence while the Iron (Man) is hot.
Lesson - Learn From Experience

A real studio they would have announced his sequel deal within a week of the film's MASSIVE BOX OFFICE OPENING! WILD HOGS opened bigger than expected last spring and director Walt Becker's sequel deal was announced within a week.

The Real Lesson here is that in Hollywood the only thing worse than them lying to you is when they stop calling you.

[Myshkin57]

ARRGH! You reminded me of Daredevil. Daredevil is the Marvel character I thought would make for the best translation to screen. What a waste of time that was!

[Veeve]

I hope he gets the time to do it right. I was so pleasantly surprised by Ironman. It's hard to compare different comic adaptations, but Ironman was as good as X Men 2 or Spiderman, if not better.

[rini]

For gosh sakes, they should take their time. I haven't even gotten around to Ironman I yet and I love R D jr.

At the rate I go, it might take me until 2010 to get the thing from netflix.

[nanoscare]

MEMO TO: FAVREAU
FROM: MARVEL

Our bottom line is more important than making a good movie.... why do you think we released a date before you had a script!

[galaxian]

i think you nailed it.

[JamieFrevele]

I have loved Favs since Swingers and was finally able to see Iron Man on Sunday. I'm still reeling over such an excellent movie, and he should absolutely be able to take his sweet time putting together the sequel. Let the man do his job!

[aaawyeah]

to hell with integrity and quality! gimme more artistic fecal matter like that giant turd Daredevil! let's just destroy every comic hero we can in the name of COMMERCE COMMERCE COMMERCE!!!

[ObamaEdwards]

They should listen to Favreau. He made a great movie, one that proves (as the Spiderman series did) that blockbusters can also be well made and meaningful. What a terrific film. Marvel--your director just delivered in a big, big way. Listen to him.

[1st2vote]

I wish he would go on loan to DC and make a decent Superman movie!!!!!

[ElPerro]

With the exception of Batman, DC = Dead Comics