This doesn’t sound good at all.
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 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.
Come on Marvel! Give Favreau the paycheck bump and get to making the film. IF Marvel decides to go with another director, I guarantee you, that director will go more CGI for the film and do away with most of the live action and practical effects that Favreau loves using.
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bad Marvel bad!
So what’s the over/under on Marvel going from “promising studio with integrity and vision” to “DC/WB?” Five years? Egos, merchandising, and over-reaching for release dates and budgets are what screwed over the first Batman franchise with nipples & hammy star performers, reamed X-Men 3 with budget cuts, creative stupidity, & firing the central creative mind, and kept Superman Returns on the back burner for ten years while Barbra Striesand’s hairdresser kept insisting on black suits, giant spiders, polar bears, and gay robot henchmen.
It really isn’t as dire as it sounds. This story is a little over a week old (no offense to MS), and there are sure to have been developments.
Realistically, yeah the date Marvel wants is unrealistic. Like Favreau says, there is no Marvel Studios movie for 2009 which makes 2010 a very important target for them.
I can onlh hope that Marvel Studios and Favreau work something out and that Iron Man 2 would get pushed back to a possible fall/winter 2010 release.
Also with the shadow of a SAG strike on the horizon, everything is going to get pushed back anyways.
From CBR on 6/16/2008:
What dispute? Marvel’s Kevin Feige talked to IGN, debunking some rumors. “The only thing I’ll say is that not everything you read on the Internet is true, for sure,” Feige said … to this internet site. “Everybody knows that. In this particular case, the notion that… Let’s put it this way, here’s all I’ll say. Negotiations are actively ongoing, as they have been, and as they’ll continue to be, I hope for not much longer and we’ll get it all figured out. But the people behind the scenes at Marvel Studios I hope, I think, I hope should earn the trust of the fans from this summer. I mean these are the same people that made the decisions to make the films that are now in theaters that I think people like and enjoy, and those are the same people that are still making the decisions here. So if you’ve agreed with and enjoy the decisions they’ve made in the past you’re probably going to agree with the decisions they make in the future and all of the efforts are being put together now to ensure that we can go into our next film with all of the exact same pieces in place that led to the success of the first one.”
What about Favreau’s concerns about a 2010 release date? “That time period gives us about the same amount of time that we had on the first one. And frankly we spent so much time, we know who the cast is now, we know who the actors are, we know who the characters are, we know what the basic design of the suits and the world is. That was all stuff that we had to figure out from scratch on the first one. All that R&D is done. That gives you a huge advantage going forward. But I’m actually very confident, and anything’s possible, but I’m very confident in those timetables simply because we’ve done it before. We had this exact amount of time going from ‘Spidey 1’ to ‘Spidey 2,’ and I believe ‘Spider-Man 2’ is one of the best sequels we’ve ever made. And that’s certainly what we’re setting out to accomplish with the next ‘Iron Man’ film.”
Josh P: no offense taken as I’ve had this story sitting in my pile since last week. At the time there was not much info other than some on again off again comments from parties involved. If anything, the story has generated some really good comments from everyone – and that latest CBR news seems to contradict what Jon has said about him being contacted :D
I hope the Avengers Movie is very much like Mark Millar’s Ultimates. Considering that Samuel Jackson has been tapped as Nick Fury I think there is a very good chance of this. I would go with the Skrull Alien Invasion of Ultimates Volume 1. I would also show the Captain America version of the Skrull Alien Invasion during World War II in the Avengers Movie. Needless to say I think that Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch should be creative consultants to the movie. This is the ONLY way such a movie can succeed.
Stephen: Maybe someone read Favreau’s MySpace page and lit a fire under someone’s rear end?
@Mark
Nice Kevin Smith referencing… ;)
Josh: let’s hope so.
I really ate my words when I “assumed” Iron Man was going to suck…in fact I do not even like Iron Man at all….however the movie was one of the best comic adaptations I can think of and to think that Marvel could even possibly go with some other director or giving Iron Man 2 less time to make would be quite the stupid decision. In any case however as long as Iron Man 2 is nothing like the two Fantastic Four movies I will be happy.