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EXCLUSIVE: It’s not officially announced yet, but I’m told that Marvel Studios and Iron Man director Jon Favreau have reached a deal for him to helm the sequel, due out in 2010. (Robert Downey Jr had a sequel clause in his contract so he’s on board.) Marvel Studios boss David Maisel was quick to put out a “definitely” richer offer to Favreau, but not quick enough for Jon — who used the Internet and other media to rile up the movie’s many fans who spread nonsense that Marvel was dragging its feet and then lowballing him. Granted Maisel is no day at the beach himself, but couldn’t Favreau have refrained from negotiating in public and left the bargaining to his powerful agency CAA? (FYI, I earlier posted that he acted like an asshole, but he’s not…)
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Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Armand – I think the Potter Series proves the importance of a decent director. All of them come from the same source material (Rowling), yet 1,2,4 are pretty below average. The brought in Yates for 5,6,7 because they want a director who can handle the more foreboding direction the plot moves in.
Is Favereau a genius? – hell no, few would argue that he is. However, comic book adaptions are perilous things. You have to try to maintain quality AND keep the fanboys happy. On the whole, he succeeded in this. The first two thirds of the movie were of a particularly high caliber. A good cast and team around him no doubt helped, but the director’s influence should never be understated.
Does this give him a right to direct the sequel. No – he didn’t have a clause in his contract unlike Downey Jr. However, the first film was a critical and popular success, so I think he has the right to find out first hand if he is to be directing the sequel (before it’s announced in the press). I’m pleased to see him return. Why? Because continuity is crucial in planned sequels. Favereau hoped he’d be returning and no doubt when filming Iron Man 1, he’ll have been already thinking about plot and character development.
Sure there are better directors, but come on – can you see Del Toro, Jackson, Spielburg, Singer et al signing up for Iron Man 2? No chance. The first one was good. Let the man finish what he started and we can be thankful that McG wasn’t given the call.
Thank you Nikki for calling him out.
Favreau wasn’t the sole reason for the success of “Iron Man”. The primary reason it was successful was because of the charisma and charm of Robert Downey Jr. HE made that movie watchable.
In my opinion “Iron Man” is an incredibly overrated film. And the ending was like watching a remake of the climax of “Robocop 2″. I could get into the silly plot details (how did Jeff Bridges know how to use a suit in 10 minutes when RDJ took an entire movie to learn to use it) but it’s pointless. It was an overpraised film that rode the bandwagon effect to 300 million.
Anyhow, him going online and riling up fans was a very immature thing to do. It’s not like Favreau is some hot shot auteur with great vision and the ability to use his budget effectively. I would place his directing skills right alongside Peter Berg. Sure they get the job done but they really have no visual flair.
If it were up to me and he pulled this crap, I would have hired someone else like Alex Proyas. As long as Downey was a lock and the writers were still in place, Favreau could have been easily replaced.
Fanboys need to remember that just because a director goes to Comic Con and speaks geek lingo and seems “like a nice guy” doesn’t mean he gets a pass when he makes a mediocre movie.
“Iron Man” had potential, and a sequel could improve on it greatly, but let’s not kid ourselves and consider it the end all be all.
Okay, Favreau made a single comment on his MySpace page where he expressed a pretty basic concern. Unless I’m mistaken, IESB and Ain’t It Cool New then ran with stories about how Marvel was shorting them while citing Marvel sources that had nothing to do with Marvel’s comment. How is this Favreau’s fault?
1) Regarding Harry Potter… the first two were NOT good movies. They were so-so movies that are loved and were well watched beacuse of the books. This is more than partially because the director was not that good. Then, when the third Potter movie came out, it was considered to be the first genuinely well made movie… because it had a good director.
2) Most of the Favreau buzz was created by journalists ASKING Favreau about Iron Man 2 story points and whatnot… Favreau would then say that he didn’t know because he hadn’t been approached by Marvel yet. Which was true. Favreau said that he would love to direct the movie, though.
3) And while other people certainly do make a movie (Downey, the writers, etc.), you can’t deny that the movie is ultimately controlled by the director, and you can usually get a sense of the quality and tone of a movie based on who the director is before even seeing it. Michael Bay’s Iron Man would be much different than David Mamet’s Iron Man which would be much different than the Iron Man we got… even with the same script.
4) As others have noted, a good movie takes time. Favreau and co. were given that time for Iron Man 1. Favreau rightly said that he would want the same amount of time to do Iron Man 2. Marvel wants it done faster. What does that mean? That means that he’ll have to cram in more hours of work into a shorter schedule… so an increase in pay seems more than reasonable (even over the increase he should have gotten for helping make the first such a success).
Man some of you people are hilarious. It’s IRON MAN not Batman or Spider-Man – most of what was good about the movie is not because of how attractive the property is, it’s the creative team that made something out of a okay concept. Favreau is absolutely important. He’s the director for god’s sake. If it wasn’t for his understanding and interpretation of the material this could have been Ghost Rider or Daredevil. You gotta be kidding me – great or near-great comic books don’t make themselves. You’re probably the same people that gave Jerry Reinsdorf all the credit for the success of the Jordan-era Bulls.
The most memorable advice I’ve received from a Hollywood veteran is this: “When you’re hot, and they need you, show no mercy.”
Favs could make Iron Man 2 ten times better than the original, with triple the box office gross, and Marvel very easily could still kick his ass to the curb for the third one in favor of some new guy with “buzz.” It happens all the freaking time.
Lets make this simple -
Could Marvel make IM 2 without Favreau? Yes.
Should they? No.
He was heavily involved and guess what? Thats one of the benifits of making a hit. You should get the sequels.
It reminds me of music artist who have a mangager, get a hit, fire manager.
Favreau didnt complain too much. Give credit where its do and lets all look forward to # 2.
ps. Nikki, you were off on this one
“Favreau wasn’t the sole reason for the success of “Iron Man”.”
Can we let this idiotic straw man die already?
Of course he’s not the SOLE reason, but NOBODY HAS SAID THAT. Give it a freaking rest.
RDJ was a huge reason. But does anyone really think the movie would have been as good and made as much money if you just threw RDJ into any Iron Man script directed by any random director? How naive can you be.
40yearoldstitzer I will answer the first part of your question as to what I meant by Marvel treating its staff like migrant workers. Marvel says it is a fledgling studio. But as soon as the 1rst two movies were done they eliminated a bunch of staff positions with the reason being that they had nothing in production until 2009 and nothing released until 2010. Those staffers are salaried positions who make a lot less money by the week than people hired by the individual movies. Consequently they can’t get people to take these staff jobs and can only get contract freelancers. This is not how you run a studio. Continuity is important or you end up reinventing the wheel over and over gain. The revolving door at Marvel has been ridiculous. The people there must have pretty low morale knowing that that axe could fall any time. What they should do is reward their staff employees and filmmakers for their success. And it should start with Favreau.
Nikki sure seems to have something again schlubby actor/directors. Remember her bizarre anger against Kevin Smith’s Myspace Clerks II credits?
What everyone who’s lambasting Favreau and (rightly) lauding Downey seems to be unaware of is that Downey was Favreau’s choice. The studio didn’t want him, and Favreau and Downey lobbied for him to get the role together. Breaking up that working partnership wouldn’t be a good idea for the sequel.
Favreau wasn’t being an asshole by any means – he made comments on his myspace page which seemed pretty reasonable and these were picked up and reprinted everywhere. There, all he was concerned about was that Marvel had announced a timing for the movie which seemed rushed, and he also noted that he hadn’t been contacted by anyone at Marvel Studios since the movie opened five weeks previously. Nothing about money.
I don’t recall that any of the articles saying that Maisel wasn’t upping Favreau’s fee actually cited Favreau as a source outside of those myspace comments. I could be wrong.
So yes, you’re off base here, Nikki.
Alot of the people attacking Favraeu sound like Sour Grapes to me. When a film gets nominated for BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR in the OSCAR race, but the Director is not nominated for BEST DIRECTOR everyone cries, “Zounds! Do they think that the film directed itself?! How can the director not be nominated if the picture was?! Fie on it!” Yet, now you all claim that after a successful Super Hero movie where in which the Director was involved from every stage of the game to make the kind of Super Hero movie everyone longs for, he could easily be replaced by any old Tom, Dick, or Harry. Everyone knows it’s a team effort to make a movie like that. I’m sure Fav thanked his cast and crew everyday. I’m sure he knows it took everyone, but come on. How can you all pass judgement without ever knowing what it’s like, for even one day, to negotiate with a big studio? Walk a mile, bitches. Quit whining because your career isn’t on par with his. Go, Johnny,Go!
um.. any one want to point out that 1) Favreau came onto Iron Man before any actors where cast. 2) Favreau is the one who championed Robert Downey Jr getting the part to Marvel. The studio had to be sold on the idea.
As far as hollywood people go. Favreau is a pretty good guy. He’s not perfect but he is way better a person then most of the directors out there.
I can’t believe the sheer amount of ignorance some of the posters here have. Did Downey bring a lot to Iron Man? Of course. Who had to fight tooth-and-nail to get Downey cast when producers had serious doubts about him? Favreau. Who had the smarts to not just go by the usual Hollywood playbook or pander to the fanboys but rather bring in actual comic book professionals to help shape the content of the film? Favreau. Who put together all of these divergent elements to create a movie that was enjoyed by critics, fanboys, and general movie audiences? Favreau.
To think that he played a minimal role in the film and that a sequel without him would be just as good without him…or that he’s an “asshole” because he brought attention to being treated unfairly by a company he just made a $#!+load of money for…just shows a complete lack of understanding and empathy over such proceedings.
Jon Favreau is an asshole? A better headline would be “Nikki Finke is a Bitch”. First of all, IESB.net had your “exclusive” story a week earlier. Second, the higher-ups announced a sequel release date before even signing him! Who exactly do you think was being the bully in that situation? Should Favreau have kept his mouth shut about the release date? If you say yes, you’re either delusional or liar, but probaby both. You’re no different than the scum-sucking paparazzi who make their living from sensationalizing EVERYTHING. I’ll bet if Favreau was spotted buying a carton of milk, you would immediately run an “exclusive” report on how his dairy habit is interfering with the Iron Man 2 production. Get a life, hack writer bitch.
To call Favreau an “Asshole” is ridiculous. At NO POINT has he written or said anything to warrant this kind of reaction. He is one of the most passionate directors currently making films. I look forward to Favreau’s “Iron Man II” and not Bret Ratner’s.
Agreed. I don’t see Favreau as having been the instigator in this matter at all; he applied external pressures on David Maisel (the real dick in this scenario) to get what he wanted, and more power to him.
Favreau made ONE comment on his My Space page in response to fans’ questions where he briefly mentions not having been offered to direct YET because the studio was understandably busy promoting Incredible Hulk. He then went on to express his concern about IM2′s release date. He didn’t rant, whine or demand in any fashion while doing so. Exactly how does that make him an asshole?
You don’t break up a winning team if you want to duplicate their success. Favreau can be equated to the coach of this one. Thus Marvel would have been incredibly stupid not to sign him for the sequel. I’m glad to see the pieces are falling into place to make IM2 the best possible film by the people who care the most about it.
Oh… yeah… Favreau is an a-hole because he wants a bigger piece of a pie that is sure to be bigger than $600 million, which he will be mostly responsible for.
Give me a break you guys. I say good for him.
Vic
Why do you think he was an asshole? Marvel is apparently still aiming for a 2010 release which they never discussed with Favreau. That better change to 2011 or the film is likely to suck if rushed to completion.
Well excuuuuuuuse Favreau for trying to have a production with some kind of quality control! Maybe someone can put a quick call into Joel Schumacher. I’m sure he could crank out a Iron Man Forever or Iron Man and Robin in 6 months. Maybe we can even be treated to some soon-to-be-infamous Ironnipples!
Judge, that story is an utter shame. Especially consider how tough landing any industry job is, such frequent staff cutting is offensive… especially in today’s economy.
Thanks for sharing that. These are the stories more people need to hear.
Wow – I think you’re WAY too harsh calling Favreau an a-hole. Reading his myspace page, he seems to have only expressed the fact that Marvel hadn’t been in touch with him, even though they’d announced the release date of IM2. I don’t think that merits calling him names.
The thing is, I have nothing against the man. What I am saying is directors should not automatically think they owned the movie and have the rights to the sequels just because they made the 1st one.
The studio poured in the money and financed everything else. Yes, he plays a part towards the movie’s success but he is NOT the sole reason for its success. The writers, actors, crew etc..
For him to blast the studio is like biting the hands that feeds.
If anything, Favreau should just moved on and I am sure there are other studios willing to hire and pay him shitloads of money to direct a different feature. I have always stated that you’re as good as your last movie, so Favreau should have no problem attracting new offers.
Again, on the Potter series, the point I was trying to make is that different directors brings in different ideas and style. So to hire a different director for a sequel is not a bad idea. There are more than 1 capable director out there.
Same goes for Peter Jackson claiming that he is the best out there to make the prequel to LOTR. If so, then he has pratically pigeon-holed himself in this genre. No director wants that to happen to them.
They could get Kaos (Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever) to direct IM2 and it’ll still make $250 mil — same with the Potter movies — but would they be any good? Big box office does not equate to quality, that is the problem with modern-day hollywood, they figure because HanCRAP made $110 opening that it was a great movie, congrats and blowjobs all around. But it sucked. Iron Man was actually good and made money. That’s lightning in a bottle. And you have to give Favreau some cred for that.