Downey Jr.s Cut Dwarfs Other Avengers' Take

Robert Downey Jr.’s payout from Marvel Studios’ smash hit The Avengers could reach upwards of $50 million, a level of compensation that is certainly not out of line by Hollywood blockbuster standards, but which totally dwarfs the amounts earned by Downey Jr.’s fellow Avengers. According to inside sources quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), and Chris Evans (Captain America) should end up making $2-3 million with bonuses, while Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson could take in roughly twice that amount.

While six million is a pretty good payday, it’s eight times less Marvel Moolah than the amount the actor playing Tony Stark will bring home. According THR after Iron Man earned $585 million worldwide in 2008, Downey Jr.’s agent negotiated a deal that gave the actor a 5-7% slice of Marvel’s take on future films featuring Iron Man.

Big payouts for charismatic stars in major franchises are hardly unknown in Hollywood. Johnny Depp has earned in excess of $250 million for the four Pirates of the Caribbean films in which he starred. What is interesting about The Avengers situation is the fact that it is the notoriously frugal Marvel that is making the payouts.

While Marvel did what it had to do to lock down Downey, Jr. the studio sent a major message when it replaced actor Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes (War Machine) in Iron Man 2 and kept the compensation for key supporting roles like those played by ScarJo and Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2 at the very low end of the Hollywood talent pay scale.
Marvel Studios’ frugality makes sense not just for the studio’s bottom line, but also in view of the kind of films that Marvel wants to make. Performers’ salaries could become a major stumbling block for superhero team-up movies. As constituted for the movie, The Avengers team includes seven major performers. If they all received compensation at the level of Downey Jr., the movie would have to earn an Avatar-like $2.2 billion just to break even.

As the lead actor in Marvel Studios’ break-out film Iron Man, Downey Jr. was able to strike a very good deal for himself—and considering the fact that director Michael Bay took home $80 million for helming the first Transformers movie, the $50 million for Downey Jr. looks like a pretty good deal for Marvel too, especially since most of that money results from the fact that the movie was an absolute worldwide smash and wouldn’t have been paid out at all if the film had been an abject failure like The Green Lantern.

Ben Kingsley in "Iron Man 3"

Oscar-winning actor Ben Kingsley is in negotiations to play the role of the chief villain in Iron Man 3. Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Shane Black will direct the third Iron Man film, which will be in theaters on May 3rd, 2013. The fact that Marvel Studios can regularly land actors of Ben Kingsley’s caliber provides additional evidence (if any is needed) that the once despised genre of comic book movies can now attract top talent on both sides of the camera.

The Hollywood Reporter speculates that Kingsley might play the classic Iron Man villain, the Mandarin, but that character was created in 1963 during the height of the Cold War and before mainland China became a major market for Hollywood movies. If the Mandarin does appear in Iron Man 3, his character is likely to be modified in order to make him more acceptable to the increasingly important overseas audiences.

More "Avengers" Images Assembled

Marvel has released five hi-res images from Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, which is slated to debut on May 4th, and which some analysts think just might give The Dark Knight Rises a run for its money as the top superhero film of 2012. However that particular competition turns out, the new images concentrate on character (especially Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury) and cast interaction rather than on action or spectacle like some of the previously release images.

Scar-Jo is the Black Widow in Iron Man 2

Scarlett Johansson signed to play Black Widow in Iron Man 2 on Wednesday, according to Mark Malkin’s blog on E! Online. The signing confirms rumors that began last month when Emily Blunt, who was originally signed for the role, ran into a scheduling conflict.

The cast also includes Mickey Rourke and Samuel Jackson, in addition to Robert Downey Jr.

Warners Comic Movie Dates

Warner Bros. updated some movie release dates yesterday for their films planned for release in the coming years. Warners announced that its new Sherlock Holmes film, based on a comic and starring Robert Downey Jr. will open Christmas 2009, later than originally scheduled.

2010 releases for Warners include Jonah Hex on August 6, 2010, and Green Lantern, December 17th.

Marvel Confirms Film Movie Details

David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, told reporters that the success of the 2008 theatrical and DVD releases of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk paves the way for a slew of sequels and new films based on Marvel Comics properties and characters. Among those in the works are Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers, Maisel confirmed in a conference call with reporters on Nov. 4 to discuss the company's third-quarter earnings.

As previously reported, Maisel also said that Marvel Studios will, for cost efficiency purposes, relocate its headquarters to the Raleigh Studios facility in Manhattan Beach, Calif. All the upcoming movies will be shot at Raleigh Studios, with post-production work done there as well.

"2010 is scheduled to bring Iron Man 2 and Thor, while 2011 has The First Avenger: Captain America and the Avengers movie," Maisel said. "We've announced Robert Downey Jr. will star in both Iron Man 2 and The Avengers and Jon Favreau will direct Iron Man 2 and executive-produce The Avengers. We will be making other talent and director announcements as these deals are finalized."

Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. will be back for the sequel and for an Avengers movie.

Maisel added, "On one other note, by 2010 we also expect that our Spider-Man Broadway musical will premiere on Broadway. This is the musical directed by Julie Taymor, the director of The Lion King, with music written by Bono and The Edge from the rock band U2. In keeping with our conservative fiscal approach, we are not funding the show, but we are co-producing it and have a meaningful first-dollar gross participation, which could create significant upside if the show is successful and spawns multiple touring companies around the world."

Addressing the move to Raleigh Studios, Maisel said that, in addition to housing Marvel's studio headquarters on the premises, they will also have dedicated sound stages and pre- and post-production areas where the next four Marvel movies will be developed and shot.

"That's a significant move on Marvel, a significant investment in space," Maisel said. "We believe that by doing that, we will not only have cost efficiencies by being able to have all the productions under one roof and negotiate various volume discounts and other sorts of cost efficiencies, but also hopefully continue and have a better probability of having the quality that we all saw this past summer in the movies by being the hands-on producers, as we were with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk."

In a press release issued in conjunction with the earnings call, Marvel Entertainment also confirmed the tentative release dates for company's upcoming film productions. Iron Man 2 is scheduled for a May 7, 2010, release, followed by Thor on July 16, 2010, The First Avenger: Captain America on May 6, 2011, and The Avengers on July 15, 2011. --Ian Spelling

Cheadle to follow "Iron Man" with "Avengers"

*Don Cheadle will see his new role of Jim Rhodes/War Machine in "Iron Man 2" continue on in "Iron Man 3," as well as "The Avengers," Marvel Studios' upcoming film about its team of superheroes.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Cheadle signed on to perform in the action flick after his deal to replace Terrence Howard in the "Iron Man" movies was finalized.

Marvel's current slate is designed to introduce superhero characters via individual movies that lead up to the characters teaming up for "Avengers," which is set for a release in 2011.
Downey and Cheadle are the first stars to sign on for "Avengers," whose team roster features such heroes as Iron Man, Captain American, Hulk, Wasp, Giant Man, Hawkeye and Thor. Edward Norton portrayed Bruce Banner/Hulk in "Hulk," but the actor-writer-director clashed with the studio over the movie's cut. It is unclear whether Norton will return for "Avengers."

Don Cheadle Replaces Terrence Howard in 'Iron Man 2'

According to The Hollywood Reporter it will be Don Cheadle, not Terrence Howard, who will play Jim Rhodes (aka War Machine) in Iron Man 2. James Rupert Rhodes, who is one of Tony Stark’s closest confidants in the Iron Man comic series and who actually took over the mantle of Iron Man when Tony Stark lapsed into alcoholism, will likely play a larger role in Iron Man 2, something that was alluded to directly in the first film when Rhodes, played by Terrence Howard, looked longingly at the Iron Man suit and said, “Next time.”

Unfortunately, it won’t be Howard who gets to enjoy the expanded role. According to The Reporter “sources close to the deal said negotiations with Howard fell through over financial differences, among other reasons.” Cheadle, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in Hotel Rwanda and played memorable roles in Traffic, Out of Sight, and Crash, is one of the most highly regarded actors in Hollywood and certainly represents a continuation of the use of “A-list” actors in Marvel Studios’ films, something that was especially apparent in Iron Man (see “Heavy Metal Rules the DVD Charts”).

Robert Downey Jr. is expected to reprise his role as Tony Stark in Iron Man 2 and Gwyneth Paltrow will also be back as Pepper Potts. Director Jon Favreau is already signed for the sequel, which Justin Theroux is writing. The problem with sequels to extremely successful movies is that the folks involved on both sides of the camera quite naturally want a bigger share of the pie, which drives up production costs and makes the sort of financial success enjoyed by the original film a very difficult feat to duplicate.