In all the breathless excitement, possibility and release date for Iron Man 2, it's always good to step back and hear from the main men. You might be surprised (and maybe relieved) to know they haven't really started thinking about the sequel yet. On the other hand, one immediately begins to panic, thinking "Dear God, they won't actually ditch Jon Favreau, will they?" To answer that, Entertainment Weekly sat down with both Robert Downey Jr. and Favreau, the weariness apparent in their voices as they tried to actually comprehend doing it all again.

Let's start with Stark himself on where the sequel will go. "There's this idea of Terrence [Howard] putting on a suit and coming back as War Machine, who is pretty iconic in the Iron Man and Marvel universe. Just seeing where it can all go, but grounding it in a very modern mythology. I see it as the greatest dysfunctional family story ever told .... In The New York Post a couple days ago, [there was a cartoon] of Iron Man suited up, and he's telling the governor even his super-powers can't get him out of the budget problem. That was what Jon was hoping for and excited to see the most, the idea that Tony Stark and Iron Man can become part of the cultural fabric. When we heard posters were being defaced to promote political or social ideas, he just got such a hoot out of that."

One of the many nice moments in Iron Man comes as techno-titan Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) is consulting with his artificial intelligence majordomo, Jarvis, about the fabrication of the newest version of the high-tech power armor Stark intends to use to stop evil and protect the innocent. Looking at a holographic simulation of the proposed design of the glittering, golden armor -- which enables its wearer to fly, lift cars, shoot energy beams, withstand bullets and includes many other clever bits of engineering -- Stark makes a brief request regarding the color scheme: "Why don't you throw a little hot rod red in there?" Stark seems to be saying Sure, it's fancy and expensive and technologically majestic and wonderful, but a little style can still go a long way. ...

And as it is with the Iron Man armor, so it is with the Iron Man movie. Marvel Comics' first foray into self-financed film making has movie stars and impressive effects and a script where every plot point you would expect meshes with its neighbors as precisely as the plates and pieces of Stark's armor do, but it's the touches of style that make it truly sizzle. Director Jon Favreau does not seem like a choice you would expect as the director of a comic-book movie; Robert Downey Jr. does not seem like a choice you would expect as the star of a comic-book film. Between the two of them, they give us something different from the comic-book movies we've come to expect; a little swagger, a little strut, a touch of self-mocking humor that never undercuts the pleasures of the thing being mocked. It's as if someone snuck a hefty slug of bourbon into your cherry cola; all of the sugar and flavor and fizz you expect from a well-made comic-book movie are there, but there's something a little more grown-up going on behind them.

In the last week, it feels like Iron Man has suddenly gone mainstream. It went from being "another one of them geek movies" to a movie everyone is lining up for. Even my mom is interested, and I can never interest her in anything that originated from a comic book.

But, while this could be the movie that crumbles the walls between geekdom and the ordinary world, there are still going to be many people walking in and out of that theatre confused about all things Tony Stark. Or they will be bitten by the bug, and suddenly desire a stack of graphic novels and comic books beside their bed.

To help, our good friends over at ComicMix have put together a helpful reading list of essential Iron Man stories. I'm delighted to see that Armor Wars (the crazy comic story my friend Matt desires to see onscreen) made the cut . So did another contender for that list, Doomquest, which sees Tony Stark and Doctor Doom hurled into Arthurian England. it's not just essential reading for the new Iron Man movie -- it is essential reading for our Cinematical content too!

I don't know if you can manage to track all of these down before Iron Man opens on Friday -- but it does give you some handy reading for the weekend. And remember to check out their essential Batman reading list before The Dark Knight.

Thank you Rick, for sending this to us!

The trend of successful pregnancy comedies led by Knocked Up and Juno continued as Baby Mama took top honors. Harold and Kumar took second but still managed to pull in almost $3million over its $12 million budget. Last week's other new release, Deception, fell way behind the pack and took in only $2.3 million to finish in tenth place. Here are the final numbers:

1. Baby Mama: $17.4 million
2. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay: $14.9 million
3. The Forbidden Kingdom: $11.2 million
4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall: $11 million
5. Nim's Island: $4.5 million

Only two new releases this week, but one of them is a doozy.

Iron Man
What's It All About: At this point I doubt this film needs any introduction, but here goes. Based on the long running Marvel comic, Iron Man stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, a wealthy arms manufacturer (because an impoverished arms manufacturer would just be silly). When Stark is captured and forced to build a dangerous weapon, he instead makes a high tech suit of armor and uses it to escape. He further refines the suit and uses it to stop a conspiracy that threatens the world.
Why It Might Do Well: Well, we're talking one of the widest releases we've seen in awhile, a 90% fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com, and some kickass trailers and clips that have been generating a lot of buzz. Also, we've got a lead actor with some serious star power, and a supporting cast that includes Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow. Obviously this is next week's number one flick, the question is just how much will it rake in?
Why It Might Not Do Well: If every single person involved with this film went on network television tomorrow and shot a puppy, people would still flock to this one.
Number of Theaters: 3,800
Prediction: $62 million

Made of Honor
What's It All About: When Tom's (Patrick Dempsey) best friend Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) leaves for a six week business trip he sees how empty his life is without her. He resolves to propose when she returns, but Hannah surprises Tom with the announcement of her engagement to someone else, and a request that he be her "maid" of honor.
Why It Might Do Well: This romantic comedy is different enough from Iron Man to snap up the remainder of the audience that's not into the super hero stuff.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The fact that this is the only other film being released the same weekend as what will probably be one of the biggest movies of the year seems to indicate a film the studio has little faith in.
Number of Theaters: 2,700
Prediction: $14 million

This seems like the most straightforward prediction we've had in a long while, which is a sure fire sign we're heading into the Summer blockbuster season. Here's how I see things working out:
1. Iron Man
2. Made of Honor
3. Baby Mama
4. Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Still no perfect scores this week, but our group average is up over last week. Here's how everyone did in our weekly box office prediction competition.
1. Ray: 13
1. Mario: 13
1. Brent Todd: 13
1. kevin: 13
2. Erin: 11
3. Matt: 9
3. matt: 9
3. AJ Wiley: 9
3. Chris: 9
4. cubitfox: 8
4. zach: 8
4. Mike: 6
4. Sam: 6
4. plinstrot: 6
5. Matthew: 4
5. I Eat Robots: 4
5. DarkAgair: 4
5. Aaron: 4
5. Awesomepants: 4
5. Prateek S: 4

Will the latest feature film from Marvel rule with an iron fist? Yeah, probably, but what about the rest of the top five? Join in on the fun. Post your predictions for the top five movies in the comments section below before 5:00PM Eastern Time on Friday. One point for every top five movie correctly named, two points for every correct placement, and one extra point for the top movie.

I hope you appreciate the sacrifices I make for my job; having managed to successfully avoid anything even remotely 'spoilerish' about Iron Man (I was so anal I was even not watching all the trailers just in case they ruined any surprises), I finally cracked and watched four behind-the-scenes videos for the big budget comic book flick. Luckily for me there wasn't anything too revealing, although one of the videos gives you a preview of what it takes to get star Robert Downey Jr. into that suit (and let's just say it suddenly doesn't look so high tech when it takes four costume people to wedge you into the thing).

Despite starting its road to production as a low-budget comic book movie back in 1990, Iron Man has become one of the most anxiously awaited summer movies (and that is hard to do when your competition is Indiana Jones and Batman). These videos are just the latest in a series of trailers and teasers for the film, hell; there was even a VH1 satire on the Fabulous Life of Tony Stark. But all the marketing will finally come to an end, and I'm pretty sure it is going to be worth the wait. Iron Man opens in theaters on May 2nd.

Welcome back to another edition of Insert Caption -- the game Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow might be addicted to (we don't know them personally, but we definitely have a hunch)! Last week, we asked you to give us your breas ... er, best captions for a photo from the new movie Baby Mama, which hits theaters today. Congrats to all three of our winners; your captions were a real tit hit around the office.

1. "Careful, Kid, you'll suck your eye out" -- Ross J.

2. "Be careful! When you've got milk goggles on, every baby looks cute." -- Nathan T.

3. "This is cool and all, but why not just buy the milk?" -- Lou T.

See full image and all captions



Do you hear that? Smell it? Oh yes, it's summer -- and it's finally here (in movie form, that is)! This week on Insert Caption, we're gettin' our feet wet on a little film called Iron Man. You may have heard us talk about it once or twice before -- it's a small, character-driven piece about ... screw it -- it's friggin' IRON MAN! Now check this out: The 10 winning captions (yup, 10!) will fly away with one LG "the V" cell phone (pictured right, click to learn more) and one Iron Man poster. 10 phones. 10 posters. It's gonna be a BIG summer folks, so why not give away some equally-as-big prizes, right? We're exposing our round, shiny hearts to all of you in the hopes you'll reward us with humor in the comments below (we're such a cheap date) ...

Read the official rules for this contest

If you're lucky enough to live in some parts of the world, like Mexico or Sydney, Australia, then you may be among the few who have attended an early screening of Iron Man. Apparently, there was also a screening for exhibitors last week where one such exhibitor had the following to say about the film: "I have never read the comic and know almost nothing about the character. But I had seen some clips of Downey developing the suit and was amused. Well I can report the movie is terrific. It is a thinking person's superhero film with more character development than special effects and action scenes (though there are plenty of those which are nicely balanced so we get involved in the story rather than bored by non-stop effects.)." We've included video from the Iron Man press conference in Mexico after the jump, courtesy of Anne Thompson.

I really think that if Tropic Thunder lives up to our expectations, this may very well be the "Summer of Downey." For starters, I'm already sold on Iron Man, and believe me, it has nothing to do with a love of men in big metal suits. Paramount Pictures has released three new character posters for the action comedy and there is just something about Downey's whacked out expression that brings a smile to my face. Although to be fair, I'm steering clear of the whole 'black face' debate until I actually see the movie. Especially since it seems a little early in the game to start crying "racist" when no one has even seen Downey's performance yet.

Thunder was written and directed by Ben Stiller, who also stars as a spoiled action star cast in a big budget war flick that is spiraling out of control. Tired of dealing with spoiled stars and unruly locations, the director (played by Steve Coogan) decides to drop his actors in the middle of a real armed conflict in hopes of adding some 'verité' to the film. Of course, the actors are all clueless of the fact they are no longer in the cozy confines of a movie set and wackiness ensues.

So place your bets: Do you think Tropic Thunder is going to be this summer's big comedy? We'll find out if Stiller can live up to the hype when the film opens in theaters on August 15th. Check out larger versions of all three posters, plus additional photos from the film in the gallery below.

Paramount has been "letting slip" so much pre-release material for Iron Man that I fully expect Jon Favreau to pop up in an EXCLUSIVE VIDEO! to describe the whole movie scene-by-scene. The latest: this short clip on Apple, showing Tony Stark's rash first test flight in his gleaming new suit. He appears to be very excited about it, and who could blame him? That baby can move.

The best word to describe the May 2nd release continues to be "glossy": it's not clear if it'll have much personality -- it looks to rely very heavily on Robert Downey, Jr.'s sarcasm to set the tone -- but it sure looks good. As for this new clip, I hate to be the guy who chimes in with pointlessly nerdy objections, but "terabytes of calculations"? That just doesn't sound right.

It's here! Surely this must be one of the quickest follow-ups to a teaser in trailer history. You can watch an official, high quality version over on the film's official website if you prefer. I am trying to tell myself that this won't be as funny as the trailer -- that all the good stuff will be ruined -- but I can't make myself believe it. And it is all because of Robert Downey Jr. wearing a monk's robe and freaky Dune-blue contacts. Plus I want to know what the heck Ben Stiller is doing with two baby pandas.

Tropic Thunder opens on August 15th, 2008. And I still want an official patch.

Now that we have all gotten over the initial shock of seeing Robert Downey Jr. in 'black face,' we can all settle down and direct our attention to all of the other reasons why Ben Stiller's action comedy Tropic Thunder is going to be pretty high on the list of must-see summer flicks. Slash Film now has two new pictures from the comedy with the whole cast in tow.

Stiller came up with the idea of Tropic Thunder while he was working on Empire of the Sun with Steven Spielberg. Thunder centers on a group of spoiled actors making an expensive Vietnam flick. Inexplicably, the group find themselves in the middle of a real war and they are forced to become real live soldiers. The all-star comedy cast includes Stiller, Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey (in a part originally intended for Owen Wilson), and Steve Coogan as the wacked-out "Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now" role.

While these photos may not be as much fun as the teaser that was just released, I'm sure this is just the first of many media releases for the film. If you are over 18, I highly recommend checking out the teaser -- with possibly the best tag line for an action film in the history of the movies. If not, you'll just have to figure out how to sneak into the theater with the rest of us when Tropic Thunder lands in theaters on August 15th.

Quickly capitalizing on the still that rocked the world, Dreamworks has released a teaser trailer for Tropic Thunder. Watch it here on the official site. It's age restricted for language and evisceration. Naturally, the key answer here is your zip code -- there's whole states populated with children under 17.

I echo the majority when I say I don't think I've ever looked forward to a Ben Stiller comedy -- but this looks hysterical. And please tell me they're going to keep that 1970's film stock look. I'm laughing hardest at Robert Downey Jr.'s pop up. "Arrrgh!" It's practically proof they cut this after the still was released. "Downey doesn't need to say anything! Just have him pop up in that make-up!"

I really want a Tropic Thunder patch. Right now. Send me some swag, Dreamworks! I will put it on my jacket and wear it proudly.

I may not be too thrilled with the thought of male modeling sequels, but I'm itching to see what Ben Stiller makes with his first directing gig since Zoolander. The flick is Tropic Thunder, and that image above is part of the first look released by Entertainment Weekly. This time, the focus is actors, and the comedy follows a group "of self-indulgent stars cast in the modern equivalent of Apocalypse Now." However, the director (Steve Coogan) and writer (Nick Nolte) get fed up with them and ship them off to the jungle to fend for themselves.

Meanwhile, Stiller and those involved are hoping this comedy doesn't start an uproar.