With writer-director Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 now playing around the world, I recently got to speak with the cast and filmmakers here in Los Angeles.  During my video interview with Don Cheadle, we talked about collaborating with Black, the awesome dialogue, filming the action, changes on set, the collaboration with Marvel on Rhodey, if he’s talked to Joss Whedon about The Avengers 2, will he make an appearance in Captain America 2, and the future of Captain Planet.  Hit the jump to watch.

To the surprise of no one, Iron Man 3 made a lot of money on its opening night.  According to THR, the estimated tally is $15.6 million from screenings that began at 9pm.  The Avengers grossed $18.7 million on its opening night, so what does this mean?  In the grand scheme of the movie industry: nothing.  Iron Man 3 is a hit, and people expected it to be a hit.  It won’t be as big of a hit as The Avengers which is unsurprising since six superheroes are more profitable than one (seven if you count Nick Fury).  You can also try to water down Iron Man 3‘s success since showings began at 9pm and not midnight, and of course there’s the 3D and IMAX 3D boost.  But that would be pointless because again, everyone considers it a hit, and it’s expected to make a whopping $160-180 million through the weekend.

For more fun with numbers, Iron Man 2 took in $7.5 million from its midnight runs, which isn’t bad when you consider that the film actually debuted at midnight and wasn’t in 3D.  Worldwide, Iron Man 3 has already made $361 million, which is more than Iron Man and Iron Man 2 made in their entire worldwide runs ($268 million and $312 million, respectively).  Witness the true power and real reason for making movies in 3D.

There are almost as many concepts floating around in Iron Man 3 as there are suits of armor.  The only difference is that the armors have a clearly defined purpose.  In an attempt to bring Tony Stark back to basics, his latest outing is a strangely bloated affair that still manages to be an incredibly fun thanks to the hilarious comedy and exhilarating action.  Without question, it’s the funniest and most exciting of the trilogy, but it’s also surrounded by a host of underdeveloped ideas relating to notions of desperation, augmentation, and obfuscation, not to mention the aftershock of The Avengers.  Like riding in one of the Iron Man suits, it’s a bumpy but highly enjoyable ride.

With writer-director Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 now playing around the world and opening in America this weekend, I recently got to speak with the cast and filmmakers here in Los Angeles.  During my video interview with Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall, we talked about how their families reacted when they were cast, script changes during production, how it’s hard to talk about the movie without giving away some of the twists and turns, what it was like working with Shane Black, and more.  In addition, I tried to get Hall to talk about Wally Pfister‘s Transcendence (it didn’t work), and Pearce talks briefly about The Rover with Robert Pattinson.  Hit the jump to watch.

The wait is almost over for Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, which debuts in the States on Friday, May 3rd.  However, if you’re looking ahead to the rest of Marvel’s Phase Two slate of films, we’ve got a few nibbles of information to pique your interest.  Since there’s currently no Iron Man 4 on Marvel’s lineup, it’s looking like Robert Downey Jr.’s next appearance as the armored Avenger will be in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers 2.  But who else will be joining him?

Hit the jump for more on Iron Man 3 from Downey Jr., Black, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marvel’s Kevin Feige, along with updates on The Avengers 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  Spoilers ahead.

Ever since we heard that Disney/Marvel would be releasing a different version of Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 in China, we’ve been keeping an eye out for what exactly those differences would amount to.  Early feedback indicates that the extra four minutes of Chinese-only footage is heavy on product placement, light on character development and more or less absent on plot.  Though Chinese audiences are scratching their heads over the blatant homegrown advertising of Chinese products in their screenings, the film itself – and star Robert Downey Jr. in particular – is being received quite warmly.

Also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau and Sir Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3 opens in 3D Stateside on May 3rd.  Hit the jump for a recap of the Chinese-only footage.

Think you’ve seen all the promotional material for Marvel’s Iron Man 3?  Nope!  Wrong again!  Today we have a couple different looks at a 3D projectionist’s guide for Shane Black’s threequel starring Robert Downey Jr., plus a rare poster available only to an Entertainment Weekly subscriber who attends tonight’s early screening of Iron Man 3 as part of EW’s CapeTown Film Festival.  Hit the jump to check them out.

Also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau and Sir Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.

With writer-director Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 now playing around the world and opening in America this weekend, I recently got to speak with the cast and filmmakers here in Los Angeles.  During my video interview with Black and Marvel President Kevin Feige, we talked about if they considered doing the demon in the bottle storyline, deleted scenes (they’re going to save some for the eventual Phase 2 box set), what’s the status of Black’s Doc Savage movie, and more.  In addition, Feige reveals that it was Robert Downey Jr. who helped come up with the tag at the end of the credits.  Hit the jump to watch.

It was almost a sure-thing that Mondo would be whipping up some posters for Iron Man 3.  The Alamo Drafthouse’s art boutique has provided posters for Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and now they’ve got some beauties for Shane Black‘s upcoming third installment.  Phantom City Creative has provided a poster showing off the many armors of the new movie, and I really like the schematic design and level of detail.  There’s also a regular and variant poster from artist Martin Ansin.  It’s reminiscent of his Looper poster in how it how cuts together different images and hues inside and across multiple boundaries.

Hit the jump for sizes and pricing on the posters.  The posters will be available at a random time on Friday, so keep an eye on @MondoNews for the announcement.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.

With writer-director Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 now playing around the world and opening in America this weekend, I recently got to speak with the cast and filmmakers here in Los Angeles.  During my video interview with Sir Ben Kingsley, we talked about the way Kevin Feige told him about the role and the arc of his character, how it’s tough to talk about the film without giving away some of the twists and turns, the way he prepared for the role, whether he took home the rings, and more.  In addition, Kingsley talked about his work in director Gavin Hood‘s Ender’s Game.  Hit the jump to watch.

Finally opening Stateside this weekend is Shane Black’s Iron Man 3.  The international debut has already set new box office records and will likely set the pace for the rest of 2013′s superhero features.  In a new clip from Iron Man 3, Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle appear out of their armor as Tony Stark and James Rhodes respectively.  Rhodes-y is worried about his pal, and with good reason.

Also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau and Sir Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.  Hit the jump to watch the clip and a new TV spot.

Kicking off the blockbuster movie season, Marvel Studios is releasing Iron Man 3 on May 3^rd.  This time out, brilliant billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), aka Iron Man, faces a terrifying enemy, known as The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley), whose reach knows no bounds, and he must rely on his own instincts to protect those that he loves.  From director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), the film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow (“Pepper Potts”), Don Cheadle (“James Rhodes”), Guy Pearce (“Aldrich Killian”), Rebecca Hall (“Maya Hansen”) and Jon Favreau (“Happy Hogan”).

During this press conference at the film’s Los Angeles junket, co-stars Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall, along with Shane Black, talked about the ambitions for Iron Man 3, the version that will be shown in China with additional footage, giving up the use of the F-word for the PG-13 film, why Christmas was the right setting for the story, what made this version of The Mandarin the perfect villain, and working with co-star Robert Downey, Jr.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Fans are understandably excited as the release of Marvel’s Iron Man 3 is now only a few short days away, but in case the Shane Black-directed sequel isn’t enough to appease your fandom, another Iron Man-related product is being made available—though it comes with quite the hefty price tag.  Sideshow Collectibles has unveiled a life-size Iron Man Mark 42 collectible, which is basically a human-sized action figure.  The piece stands over seven feet tall and weighs over 100 lbs.  Moreover, it comes complete with LED light up eyes, arc reactor, palm, and display base.  The figure will run you $8499.99, and I can think of plenty of other causes worthy of that kind of money, but the figure is available for purchase nevertheless.  Hit the jump for more info and some images of the collectible.

With just days to go before the summer movie season blasts off with Iron Man 3, the domestic box office offered up another decidedly ‘meh’ moment. Paramount’s Pain & Gain was on top with a respectable $20 million while the new rom-com The Big Wedding badly underperformed. The real excitement came on the global market, where Iron Man 3 broke records with its international launch.

It’s been a long, cold, boring winter at the box office but here comes the sun! In just six days, the summer movie season will start with the release of Iron Man 3. As of Friday, the Marvel sequel had earned a reported $36.7 million from twelve international territories and should be well past $100 million by Monday. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here in the US, we still have another week of mediocre numbers to wade through.

Taking pride of place on the first day of the pre-summer frame was Pain & Gain. From 3,277 locations on Friday, the Michael Bay feature earned an estimated $7.5 million towards what looks like a $20 million debut weekend. Of course that’s nowhere near what Bay realized with the Transformers franchise but, for this “low-budget” action comedy, it’s as good as Hollywood expected. The same cannot be said for The Big Wedding. The star-stuffed rom-com earned an estimated $2.5 million from 2,633 locations on Friday and should fall well under its weekend target of just $10 million. We’ll have full details tomorrow.

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