Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 will be the second consecutive Iron Man sequel that has Don Cheadle in the role of James “Rhodey” Rhodes … a part that originated with Terrence Howard back in 2008. You might think that enough time has passed so that the actor who was replaced in the major franchises can find it in his heart to forgive Marvel.
You would be wrong.
Howard spoke to Total Film about his dismissal from the Iron Man franchise, saying, “Don [Cheadle] and Robert [Downey Jr.] get along well. Initially, they wanted Don for that role, but my agent pushed me in. So I never had any beef with Don about it.
“[I was paid] about $4.5m [for the first film],” Howard continued. “The second time, [the studio] said 'We think the movie will be successful with or without you. So, instead of the $8m that we said we were gonna pay you, we're going to let you come back for a million dollars.' We did a three-picture deal already, [but] I forgot, I didn't know it wasn't a mutually binding contract; it was only beneficial for them and they could bring me back or not. They can honor it or not.”
Later, while promoting the thriller Dead Man Down, Howard joked with Sirius/XM radio (in the NSFW clip) that one of the worst things he’s ever personally witnessed was “Iron Man killing my career. Or trying to. They tried to.”
A joke? Probably, but one that cuts deep. Listen to it in context, and again, it features some NSFW language, so be careful:
Iron Man 3 will be in theaters on May 3. Howard will not be in it. Here’s a new 30-second clip that also dropped:
- Fox, meanwhile, is gearing up for a major promotional push behind James Mangold’s The Wolverine. A trailer is expected to be attached to G.I. Joe: Retaliation (in theaters on March 29). ScreenCrush has a breakdown of when you might be able to see it earlier. And ComingSoon scanned new images from Total Film Magazine. Could these be from the upcoming sizzle-reel trailer? Here’s a shot of the bloody-clawed Wolverine. Click here for more images:
- James Cameron updated fans on his ongoing preparation for his Avatar sequels, telling Play Goes Strong:
“I’m working on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. I was talking the other day with Peter Jackson and said, 'You had it easy dude. You had the books when you did the second and third Lord of the Rings. I have to create my own books in my head and extract a script from it. I'm deep into it and I'm living in Pandora right now. There is that start up torque where you feel it's coming to you. Then you build up momentum. That's when it gets fun. The characters talk and it's writing itself. I'm almost there right now. It's building fast."
- Michael Bay’s Transformers 4 and Gareth Edward’s Godzilla remake have revealed a few key locations for upcoming shots. [via ComingSoon]
- David Goyer says the footage we’ve seen in the first Man of Steel trailer is “the tiniest, tiniest tip of the iceberg,” adding, “It's something Chris [Nolan] tried hard to do with the Batman films. I'm genuinely pleased with how much secrecy we've been able to maintain. There's so much of the movie that people don't know, that hasn't been touched upon.”
- And finally, Legendary Pictures released a new photo from Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming Pacific Rim, and it continues to hint at the size of the monsters mankind will have to face this summer. Check it out below!
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