Iron Man 2 theatrical release

iron man 2
Robert Downey Jr returns in IRON MAN 2.

Paramount Pictures release this sequel to the summer blockbuster of two years ago. Robert Downey Jr. is back as Tony Stark, along with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Don Cheadle as James Rhodes. This time, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell are along as the villains Black Widow, Whiplash and Justin Hammer, respectively. Jon Favreau again takes the director’s chair, working from a script by Justin Theroux, based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby. The first IRON MAN was an excellent crowd pleaser, but the multiplicity of villains in the sequel is cause for concern: too often, they’re thrown in so that Marvel can sell more action figures, regardless of whether there is a place for them in the story. Release Date: May 7.
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Cybersurfing: Dystopian Design in Dark Knight & Iron Man

Iron ManVareity takes a look at the production design of this year’s two comic book blockbusters. It provides an interesting examination of how production designers Nathan Crowley (THE DARK KNIGHT) and J. Michael Riva (IRON MAN) adapted and transformed the comic book aesthetic for the big screen, taking the super hero icons and placing them in something that resembled the real world.
Of DARK KNIGHT, Crowley says:

“It became clear that with our Joker character’s chaos and anarchism we could delve deeper into realism, and try to make the city feel really familiar for the audience — creating boundaries for Batman in the modern world.”

Regarding IRON MAN, Riva explains:

“There’s a lyricism to the ’50s vernacular of science fiction — wonderful modern-age stuff that informs our movie,” says Riva, who shared the vision of helmer Jon Favreau. “The innovation of the designs lean toward it, as opposed to a totally unemotional, modern-invention-driven world that seems to be all the rage now. We tried to give Tony some of that ’50s grease-monkey feel: How do you take apart a car and put it back together so it works?”

Production designers probably do not get the credit they deserve. Whenever a film looks great, people are quick to praise the cinematography, but without the production designers, all those directors of photography would be shooting blank studio walls. Read the whole article here.

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Not sure how much credibility to give to this one – it comes from a blog I had never heard of before – but it sounds interesting: a post about RAAZ – THE MYSTERY CONTINUES, which is billed as the biggest and msot expensive Bollywood horror film ever made. Over the last few years, India has emerged as a major producer of motion pictures, but they are more know for coloful musicals and dramas than horror.

Psychosomatic Rans plugs NIGHMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE, a documentary on the American horror film, based on a book of the same name.

Freddy in Space asks – and answers – the question “Where are they now?” in regards to the cast of the 1968 NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

USA Today proclaims that DELGO – a computer-animated fantasy, produced six years ago but just now escaping from the studio vaults – is not worth your time, proclaiming that “the story is tedious, noisy and banal.”

Box Office: "Iron" is Still the Man; "Speed" Races into 2nd Place

IRON MAN proved its metal at the box office, fending off two new challengers to retain the #1 position during. The critically lauded superhero fantasy film earned $50.5-million during its sophomore session. That was down approximately fifty per cent from opening weekend, but it was still two and a half times as much as the second-place film, SPEED RACER. Overall, IRON MAN did not dominate the ticket sales quite as overwhelmingly as it did on its opening weekend, when it outsold the rest of the Top Ten combined; this week, its earnings were just enough to surpass the next three top films. IRON MAN’s total now stands at an awesome $177.13-million.
SPEED RACER barely edged out WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS to take the checkered flag for second place. The Wachowski Brothers’ big-budget version of the old animated series raced into 3,606 theatres, where it earned $21.21-million. With largely negative reviews, there is likely to be a steep drop-off.
As for holdover titles of interest to Cinefantastique…
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL – the crude romantic comedy that features a rock opera version of Dracula performed by puppets – threaded its way from #5 to #6. The weekend earnings of $3.78-million raised its four-week total to $50.77-million. As predicted last week, this outdistanced its rival, THE FORBIDDEN KINDGOM, which opened the same weekend to bigger box office but dropped off faster.
THE FORBIDDEN KINDGOM relocated from sixth place to eighth place. The $1.9-million weekend lifted its four-week total to $48.26-million.
NIM’S ISLAND submerged two places, descending from #7 to # 9. Ticket sales were $1.33-million, for a six-week total of $44.2-million.
Finally, PROM NIGHT dropped out of the Top Ten, falling three places from #8 to 311. Additional revenues of $1.05-million yielded a five-week total of $42.82-million. Although nowhere near big enough to qualify as a blockbuster, this is the best haul of any more film released this year, easily surpassing THE RUINS  and the slew of Asian-themed remakes like ONE MISSED CALL, THE EYE, and SHUTTER.
UPDATE: The estimate for SPEED RACER turned out to be widly (intentionally) inflated by Warner Brothers. The film actually earned only $18.6-million, placing it in third, well behind WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS. Read more here.
Read the complete Top Ten here.