jon favreau Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Five Folks Who Could Direct 'The Avengers' Instead of Jon Favreau
Filed under: Action », Fandom », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Lists »

I know it's a huge bummer that Iron Man director Jon Favreau told MTV that he's not going to be directing The Avengers, Marvel's forthcoming superhero omnibus film that'll feature the likes of The Hulk, Nick Fury, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and whoever else the now Disney-owned studio wants to create a new action figure for. Favreau would love to do it, and he'll executive produce, but logistically he is just not going to be available to direct. Obviously that's not going to stop Marvel from moving forward with the guaranteed moneymaker, so here are five humble suggestions for replacement.
Before we let the fanboy inside us explode at the possibilities, let's keep things a bit grounded. They've got to be directors who could tackle something in the fantasy-action realm and they have to be available; so even though I'd be game for them, busy A-listers like Christopher Nolan or J.J. Abrams just aren't practical.
'Iron Man 2' Returns with More Set Video and Interviews
Filed under: Action », Fandom », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Trailers and Clips »
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"In this case, he is Iron Man, we know the characters, we know the tone, we know the rules, the way the world works ... and now we get to play." Jon Favreau on Iron Man 2.
A brand new set video that's definitely not as annoying as those flashy Entertainment Tonight videos has arrived online via France's Canal Plus, and though the intro is in French, the rest of it -- which includes some never-before-seen set footage and interviews with Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. -- is definitely worth a watch. As you can see from the image above -- which shows Scarlett Johansson wearing Iron Man's repulsor glove -- the video teases us with a little more Black Widow action. Not only do we get that brief shot, but we also catch a glimpse of Johansson (as Black Widow?) walking away from an explosion, as well as taking part in some pretty cool stunt work.
Instead of ET's set video on the racetrack, this one takes us inside Tony Stark's workshop, where Stark is attempting (and failing) to build a giant particle accelerator that wraps around and up through his driveway. Says Downey Jr, "I'd be surprised if you weren't surprised." Following that up, Favreau also notes how, historically, the second superhero movie usually rocks. "In comedies, number two is bad because you do the same story again. But with a superhero movie, number two is easier and better. And usually, if you look at most superhero movies, two is better than one. Three is usually not as good as two or one, so that becomes scary because you don't want to repeat yourself."
Watch the video after the jump. Iron Man 2 hits theaters on May 7, 2010.
Review: Couples Retreat
Filed under: Comedy », New Releases », Universal », Theatrical Reviews »

Sometimes it feels good to get your buttons pushed. Couples Retreat shamelessly trots out a stable of tired old nags and magically transforms them into shining young thoroughbreds by the time they reach the finish line. To stir more creaky metaphors into the mix, Couples Retreat reminds me of an Old World grandmother, happily offering up the same old recipe with gentle but insistent persuasion, urging you to "eat, eat!" And you end up eating far more than you ever thought you would, because old recipes taste really good when fresh ingredients are used.
With Couples Retreat, the filmmakers gently but persistently prod, saying "Laugh, laugh!" and you end up laughing far more than expected. The set-up feels familiar: four couples, all at different stages of their relationships, go on an island retreat intending to have fun in the sun, but instead are forced to undergo counseling. In the process, they discover new truths about themselves, everyone laughs, everyone has "a moment." The End. Roll credits. Except that this time, the premise doesn't give away the major pleasures of the movie.
That's because longtime friends Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau collaborated on the sly, brutally frank, and funny script with Dana Fox, creating a solid framework that allows the performers breathing space to do their thing. Vaughn, Favreau, Jason Bateman, and Faizon Love play the men; Malin Akerman (in her best performance to date), Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell, and Kali Hawk are their romantic partners. Jean Reno is a mystical "couples whisperer." Old Vaughn / Favreau accomplice Peter Billingsley makes his feature directorial debut. What really ties everything together is crack comic timing, and a willingness to embrace warmly some of the colder, less pleasant truths about relationships.
'Iron Man 2' Might Be Flying in 3-D
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Disney », Paramount », RumorMonger », Tech Stuff », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
I believe I've had to type 3D more times this week than I have in my Cinematical career thus far, and it's only Wednesday. I'm also seeing the birth of a new trend towards 3D rumor mongering and speculation which I want to say began with The Hobbit, but I would probably be very wrong. But I digress. Today, Ain't It Cool News is reporting that we might see Iron Man 2 converted into 3D. According to Harry Knowles: "Right now, there is a 1 minute demo of Iron Man 2 converted to high quality digital 3D ... Right now the suits at Marvel & Paramount & now also Disney are considering this 1 minute. At the same time that this is happening, they are fishing for bids with 3 different companies to see what the cost and time it would take to convert Iron Man 2 to a complete 3D film." There's also talk that if they actually pay to convert Iron Man 2 to 3D, they might also do the same to the first Iron Man and rerelease it into theaters next May. Watch Jon Favreau's Twitter to see if this comes true or not.
As Knowles points out, if it does come to pass it would certainly be a game-changer for the upcoming Marvel slate. You might see Captain America, Thor, or The Avengers behind a pair of dorky glasses. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, as I find the format too distracting to be enjoyable. But it would be a hell of a lot of fun to see Iron Man rereleased in 3D, and revamping an existing film seems better suited to this ongoing novelty than designing a film around some pop-out effects. I seem to be in the cranky minority when it comes to the 3D style though, and those who are enthusiastic for it are certainly winning the war for it.
Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. Team Up For 'Cowboys & Aliens'
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », Dreamworks », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Western »
I really believe this is the best geek news we'll have all month. Not only is Robert Downey Jr. officially on board Cowboys & Aliens, The Hollywood Reporter announced that he's bringing Jon Favreau along for the ride. Considering the original screenplay was penned by Iron Man screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, it's literally a dream team come true. As if it wasn't touched by the movie gods enough, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, they-who-can-write-no-failures, are penning the script, and producer Damon Lindelof came aboard last fall. There's no way this can fail. Even if the movie was one big trick, and simply 2 hours of Robert Downey Jr. in a cowboy hat reading a phone book, it would succeed. We would just call it arthouse, and praise them all for subverting our expectations!
But there's no danger of arthouse here, Cowboys & Aliens really does promise to be pure fun with this team. The story takes place in 1880s Arizona, where a war is raging between settlers and Native Americans. Their war is interrupted by the arrival of a UFO, which promptly unleashes hell onto the plains of Silver City. The Native Americans and settlers must unite to fight a larger threat, and are led to battle by Zeke Jackson (Downey), a gunslinger and former member of the Union Army. You can read the entire graphic novel online, which should keep you satisfied until Cowboys & Aliens hits theaters in the summer of 2011.
Louis Leterrier Talks 'Captain America' and 'Avengers' Dreams
Filed under: Action », Paramount », Universal », RumorMonger », Newsstand », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
A few weeks ago at ComicCon, Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige and Jon Favreau gave some hints as to what we could expect from the movie Marvel universe. Now, I bet you want to hear from a director who gets a little left out in all this crossover talk: Louis Leterrier.Leterrier sat down with the LA Times and talks all about what it's like to play in the onscreen Marvel universe. Turns out, he was once in talks to direct Thor but declined (he's just not a fan of early Thor), and would love to have helmed Iron Man or Captain America. "But, c'mon, a Frenchman doing Captain America? They would burn my passport." But Leterrier has seen the designs for Joe Johnston's Cap, and what he describes is pretty intriguing. "I have seen some of the design work they're doing for Captain America and it looks amazing. It's a period piece and it's like Raiders of the Lost Ark and with more gadgets ... It's Raiders meets Rocketeer and Saving Private Ryan. It's going to be so cool."
SDCC: Jon Favreau Brings the Awesome
Filed under: Action », Paramount », DIY/Filmmaking », Interviews », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels », ComicCon »
If you think you love Jon Favreau from a distance, try sitting next to him at a roundtable. (I know how fangirlish that sounds and I don't care.) Somehow, our seating arrangements switched up, and I ended up sliding into the chair next to him just as things got going. I think I can safely say we were both startled by that arrangement. For my part, I had just come from the Comic-Con floor, and was terrified the smell had rubbed off on me. To make matters worse, he smelled like cupcakes, sunshine, and expensive cologne. (I'm not the only one to remark on that, by the way. Jordan Hoffman did too!) But he is quite lovely to sit beside, and he's the kind of guy you really want to spend hours hanging out with. I mean, look to your right and see the nerdy shirt he was sporting! I do think that's the geekiest shirt I saw all week, and at Comic-Con that's saying something. Below you'll find some Avengers hints, the lowdown on Mickey Rourke's cockatoo, and just why they rushed the footage to San Diego.
What do you most want fans of the comic book to know?
What do I most want them to know? Well, that we hear them. We're working from the same material that they're familiar with. We're going to stick with it in certain ways, and in certain ways we're going to change it, but we're not changing it out of ignorance. We're changing it as a choice to make it interesting, and maybe make it so they don't always know what to expect. I think that fans have been punished by studios that don't care, and they assume that when you change things, you don't know what you're doing, or you don't care about them. But sometimes, you do things -- sometimes you change it, like when you're telling a joke, to throw things off a little bit, and let there be some surprises when next May rolls around. Because with the level of curiosity, it's very hard to not open every Christmas present before the release date.
Go below for the rest!
SDCC: What's It Like to Be War Machine? Ask Don Cheadle
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Paramount », Movie Marketing », Interviews », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels », ComicCon »
Do you know what it's like to have the new War Machine just appear before you at a table? It's really kind of startling. Because I wasn't at the panel, I had no idea who (beyond Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau, of course) was actually at ComicCon. But wham, suddenly there was Don Cheadle who just seemed to apparate into the chair from an unspecified location. It was like an Iron Man 2 parade which would have only been cooler if they'd been fresh off the set, and still in their costumes. Oh yeah, and obviously he was really nice, too ... and tall. Tall like War Machine! Check out what Mr. Cheadle has to say on spin-off possibilities, on wearing the suit, on the relationship between Rhodey and Tony, and much more ...
So, that War Machine suit is pretty f--cking cool.
Pretty cool, yeah. I've got a couple of them in back. [laughs] On Ebay so, if anyone wants to jump in on that ...
What's the reserve?
I can't go too much into detail, but check them out!
[Reporter asks about the real chemistry Robert Downey Jr. discussed a few minutes before]
You know it's great, especially in a movie that has so much about it that isn't real, that has so [much] that you can't see, or touch, or feel, or understand -- to have an actor like Robert who is steeped in acting tradition, where we really are trying to go after real stuff, and feeling very similar to what I like to do. So it was very encouraging to be able to grab onto something that felt real in that whole huge thing that was Iron Man 2.
Go below the jump for the rest ...
SDCC: Sam Rockwell Builds Big Weapons in 'Iron Man 2'
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Paramount », Interviews », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels », ComicCon »
I'm going to sound like a broken record with all the "Oh my gosh, he / she was so nice" remarks, but the happy truth is that all the ComicCon talent I encountered this year was ridiculously nice. Sam Rockwell was no exception. He's exactly as you think he would be: quiet, friendly, low-key. One of my finest moments was having my druthers enough to compliment him on Moon, and he was so flattered it was if he had never been complimented on it before. Call it good acting, call it being humble, whatever. He's a cool guy, and I feel so bad for being leery of him after his creepy turn in The Green Mile.Coming up is Don Cheadle and Jon Favreau, so keep reading, they should be up by midweek.
[On whether or not it was fun to be out in Hall H and part of Iron Man 2 -- not sure which, impossible to hear. Sorry readers.]
No, it's exciting to see that trailer, you know? That's an exciting thing, because we just wrapped a week ago.
So you haven't seen dailies or anything?
No, it was really wild to see that. It was really exciting.
One of the cool things looking at this cast, and the people who are making this movie, is that everybody comes from a sort of indie background. I don't want to disparage, but it's real actors and real filmmakers working on this. Does that create a definite vibe on set, a sort of small, indie environment as a result?
It is. It really feels like you're a part of the All-Stars, you really feel like you're there to do something cool. You're right, it's not just a big studio movie with thrills and chills. It's very actor friendly, and cinematically it's just phenomenal. It's big filmmaking, and yet it is very accessible to actors in a way that independent film is. It's very actor friendly for sure. It's cool.
Go below the jump for the rest!
Release Date Shuffle: 'Wolf Man' and Matt Damon Banished to 2010
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Drama », Horror », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Universal », RumorMonger », Distribution », Remakes and Sequels », War »
Poor, poor Benicio Del Toro. A former resident of last February, last April and this coming November, his take on The Wolf Man has been bumped back to next February now. That's right: for all the re-scheduling and re-shoots, Joe Johnston's version of the classic monster movie has all but lapped itself on the release slate, hoping to serve as R-rated counter-programming on February 12th, 2010 to Valentine's Day fare and maybe rake in the kind of opening weekend that Friday the 13th had this year ($40 million -- albeit followed by a steep 80% drop in attendance).








