As we all know, The Avengers has taken the box office by storm over the past six weeks, becoming the first movie of 2012 to take a billion dollars. With the money still rolling in, Marvel – as ever keeping an eye on the future – officially announced today that principal photography has started for Iron Man 3, due out in May, 2013 – just eleven more months before Tony Stark returns to the big screen.
A few grainy set photos have been surfacing in the past week online, as well as shots of Robert Downey, Jr. arriving on set, but now a brilliant official photo has been released in tandem with the official announcement – presumably that suggests the photos so far may not have been part of principal photography.
Shane Black, Downey, Jr.’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang writer-director, is taking over from Jon Favreau behind the camera, co-writing the script with Drew Pearce (the upcoming Sherlock Holmes 3), and alongside Downey, Jr. is another fantastic supporting cast.
We can look forward to the return of Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Paul Bettany as the voice of JARVIS, Don Cheadle as James “Rhodey” Rhodes, and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan – Favreau fans, you can rest soundly that he’s still very much involved in the project, as both actor and executive producer.
And joining the franchise is a brilliant new array of actors, headed up by Guy Pearce, Sir Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, and James Badge Dale.
We’ve still got a while to go before Iron Man 3 arrives in theatres, but the anticipation is naturally going to be at an all-time high coming off the success of The Avengers, and I think pretty much everyone I know is looking forward to the next instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as I’m sure are you.
Iron Man 3 will be released on 3rd May, 2013 in the UK and US, and we can of course look forward to another fantastic marketing campaign in the coming months. As usual with this great new image, you can click to enlarge, followed by the official press release.
“Following in the footsteps of the record-breaking Marvel Studios’ release “Marvel’s The Avengers,” production on the highly anticipated film “Iron Man 3,” directed by Shane Black, has commenced production in Wilmington, North Carolina. The production schedule will also include locations in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, Miami, Florida and China.
Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1963, “Iron Man 3” returns Robert Downey Jr. (“Iron Man,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”) as the iconic Super Hero character Tony Stark/Iron Man along with Gwyneth Paltrow (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2,”) as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle (“Iron Man 2”) as James “Rhodey” Rhodes and Jon Favreau (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”) as Happy Hogan. Set for release in the U.S. on May 3, 2013, Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” marks the second feature to be fully owned, marketed and distributed by Disney, which acquired Marvel in 2009.
“Iron Man 3” continues the epic, big-screen adventures of the world’s favorite billionaire inventor/Super Hero, Tony Stark aka “Iron Man.” Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film. Executive producers on the project include Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Charles Newirth, Victoria Alonso, Stephen Broussard and Dan Mintz.
The creative production team on the film includes two-time Oscar®-winning director of photography John Toll, ASC (“Braveheart,” “Legends of the Fall”), production designer Bill Brzeski (“The Hangover,” “Due Date”), editors Jeffrey Ford, A.C.E. (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Captain America: The First Avenger”) and Peter S. Elliot (“Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer”), and costume designer Louise Frogley (“Quantum of Solace,” “Contagion”).
Marvel Studios most recently produced the critically acclaimed “Marvel’s The Avengers,” which set the all-time, domestic 3-day weekend box office record at $207.4 million. The film, which is currently in release, continues to shatter box office records and is The Walt Disney Studios’ highest-grossing global and domestic release of all time and marks the studios’ fifth film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide.
In the summer of 2011, Marvel successfully launched two new franchises with “Thor,” starring Chris Hemsworth, and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” starring Chris Evans. Both films opened #1 at the box office and have grossed over $800 million worldwide combined. In 2010 “Iron Man 2,” starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke, took the #1 spot in its first weekend with a domestic box office gross of $128.1 million.
In the summer of 2008, Marvel produced the summer blockbuster movies “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk.” “Iron Man,” in which Robert Downey Jr. originally dons the Super Hero’s powerful armor and stars alongside co-stars Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow, was released May 2, 2008, and was an immediate box office success. Garnering the number one position for two weeks in a row, the film brought in over $100 million in its opening weekend. On June 13, 2008, Marvel released “The Incredible Hulk,” marking its second number one opener of that summer.”
Source: via ComingSoon.net.
