From director Shane Black, Iron Man 3 has certainly gotten the blockbuster movie season off to a pretty incredible start.  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.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor James Badge Dale, who plays Extremis agent and all-around bad-ass Eric Savin, talked about how he came to be a part of the film, having to read pages from a cop movie for his audition, due to secrecy, how he finally gut a full script after negotiations for the role were finished, what it means to him to get to be a part of the Iron Man franchise, how he viewed Savin, and what he wanted to bring to the character’s physicality.  He also talked about his roles in two more upcoming blockbusters, World War Z with Brad Pitt and The Lone Ranger with Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp, and the great experiences he had on each.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The twin brother-sister superheroes Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have been likely contenders to join The Avengers 2 since April when Joss Whedon teased, “I’ve got these two characters, two of my favorite characters from the comic book, a brother-sister act. They’re in the movie.”  Kevin Feige followed that even though the characters fall into a legal grey area (The characters are mutants, Magneto is their father, and Fox could have possession since they own X-Men), they would be available.  Today, Whedon has confirmed that the characters will be in The Avengers 2.

Hit the jump for more including what Whedon had to say about bringing Iron Man into The Avengers 2.

The Billionaire Box Office Club has a new member.  Just a couple weeks out from its domestic release, Marvel’s Iron Man 3 has now grossed over $1 billion worldwide.  That makes the Shane Black-helmed pic the 16th film ever to cross that benchmark, as it surpasses the grosses of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ($974.9 million), Jurassic Park ($969.4 million), and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($963.4 million).  It also makes it the second highest grossing Marvel film of all time, easily besting Iron Man 2’s worldwide gross of $623.9 million.  Obviously, though, Iron Man 3 has a long way to go to catch up to The Avengers, which takes the number three all-time slot with $1.5 billion.  Hit the jump for more.

Want to reenact your favorite scenes from Iron Man 3 but can’t afford to build your own suit of armor?  Well, you’re in luck!  Two new figures from Hot Toys will bring the fun and action of the Marvel movie into your home at just a fraction of the price.  The special edition of the War Machine Mark II figure will set you back US $284.99 with an expected shipping date in February 2014.  This is the same price for the non-exclusive edition.  The Iron Man Mark XXXV “Red Snapper” armor is available to pre-order for US $254.99, with delivery expected by December of this year.  Hit the jump for more details and images for each of the figures.

It isn’t easy to outshine Iron Man but that’s just what The Great Gatsby has done. Warner Brothers’ 3D adaptation of the classic novel may have come in second this weekend, but it was a much bigger draw than expected – earning an estimated $51.1 million from 3,035 locations. Iron Man 3 was always destined to be the easy winner on its second weekend, but the novelty of Gatsby’s success means that, on this particular May frame, the superhero will have to settle for first place… and second billing.

In response to fan outrage that some of the footage in Iron Man 3 was exclusive to the Chinese release, the studios have decided to recut said footage into a short film and release it.  The short focuses on Dr. Wu, a character who only gets ten seconds of screen time in the American theatrical release.  Titled The Prologue, the short film will reveal more about Wu, who is played by the Chinese actor Wang Xueqi.  Hit the jump for more information.

Last night I turned to Xbox Live to check out Shane Carruth‘s Upstream Color for the first time. While not quite as impenetrable after one viewing as its predecessor, 2004′s Primer, Upstream still demands the utmost attention of its viewers in exchange for the slightest hint of clarity. The dialogue is sparse, the setting is ever-changing, the editing is heavily dependent on juxtaposition as a way of creating meaning, and the sound design/foley work is turned up to “11″ at times. Whereas Primer played more to the intellect behind making time travel a reality, Upstream is an extremely visceral experience that is more interested, or at least more successful, in eliciting an emotional response than explaining how a rare organism can be harvested, used as a method of mind control, and ultimately link humans to pigs. The exact degree to which it succeeds will vary from viewer to viewer but it’s ultimately an experience I recommend taking in.

Of course a movie like Upstream lends itself to more than a few lines of my humble analysis, but that’s not actually why we’re here. In this week’s Top 5 you can check out the first trailer and poster for Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity, a generous number of set pics from director Jonathan Liebesman‘s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, Steve’s exclusive phone interview with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, the first trailer for Ender’s Game, and a look at Iron Man by the Numbers. A brief recap and link to each will greet you after the jump.

One week after Iron Man 3 scored the second-highest domestic debut of all-time, the Marvel sequel is still on top. The blockbuster passed the $200 million mark in the US on Thursday and now stands at an incredible $794 million total worldwide.  On its second Friday, Iron Man 3 earned an estimated $19.7 million – down 71% from last week. That was a bit steeper than the 63% drop The Avengers saw on its own second Friday, though not entirely unexpected.

What was unexpected was how close The Great Gatsby came to unseating Iron Man 3 on its first day in theatres. Baz Luhrmann’s lavish, 3D adaptation of the literary classic earned an estimated $19.4 million from 3,035 locations: including $3.25 million from Thursday pm & midnight previews. That puts Gatsby on track for a three-day debut of $52 million – nearly double what box office watchers forecast back when the film was moved from its original December 2012 release date. The good news for Gatsby was disaster for Peeples, the weekend’s second new release. The Tyler Perry-produced project earned an estimated $1.1 million from 2,031 locations towards an opening weekend projection of just $4 million.

We’ll have complete details and the weekend top ten when you check back tomorrow.

Judging by the massive box office take for Iron Man 3, most of you probably caught the latest Marvel film last week.  While the pic’s twists and turns were met with a decidedly mixed response from diehard comics fans, most agree that co-writer/director Shane Black crafted a highly entertaining pic to kick off Marvel’s Phase Two.  The film was capped by a fantastic end credits sequence that plays almost like the intro for a Saturday morning cartoon (“It’s Iron Man and Friends!”), and that sequence has now landed online in full for our viewing pleasure.

Hit the jump to watch the credits sequence, and click here to catch the latest episode of our podcast The Collision in which we talk all things Iron Man 3. [Update: Unfortunately the video has been pulled.  Sorry if you missed it!]

This week on The Collision on a spoiler-filled episode, we are joined by editor Brendan Bettinger, who I thank for filling in for me due to my moderate speech impediment as a result of recent jaw surgery.  Along with regulars Adam and Dave, they discuss Iron Man 3, Marvel Phase Two, the distinct voice of director and co-writer Shane Black, fidelity to the comics, and more.  As always, we wrap up with recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“Television, Race, Diversity, and Auteur Showrunners”), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

Just five years ago, Iron Man was on the fringes of pop culture.  Marvel Studios capitalized on the opportunity to make Iron Man the flagship superhero of Phase 1 on the way to The Avengers, and with the help of a resurgent Robert Downey Jr. and an eager Jon Favreau, turned Tony Stark into a household name.  I try to capture that journey with Iron Man by the Numbers, a feature that provides a numbers-based snapshot of each movie and its place in the filmography by looking at the box office, critical reception, and miscellaneous facts.

Hit the jump for a comprehensive review of Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Iron Man 3.

Everyone said it would be big and, for once, everyone was right. In its first three days, Iron Man 3 has earned an estimated $175.3 million, making it the second-highest domestic debut of all time behind The Avengers. Worldwide, the Marvel/Disney sequel has earned $504.8 million since its international roll-out began on April 24^th, giving it an enormous global cume  of over $680 million in twelve days.

Here’s a look at the top five US openings of all time, including today’s Iron Man 3 estimate:

Hit the jump for more details, including the weekend’s top ten.

Marvel makes it look easy. That’s what kept running through my head while watching Iron Man 3 Thursday night. Pumping out one solid standalone film after another with the overall goal of creating a whole that is equally, if not more, entertaining than its formidable parts can’t be that easy. And yet, Marvel makes it seem that way. In a medium outside of their native reach no less. Granted, Iron Man 3 isn’t without its flaws. But it doesn’t have to be. It succeeds on the exact level it’s meant to: in moving both the individual character and universal stories ahead in an entertaining and logical way. If “Marvel makes it looks easy” was my primary takeaway from IM3, “DC has their work cut out for them” isn’t far behind.

But enough Marvel love for one opening paragraph. In this week’s Top 5 we’ve got Iron Man 3 interviews with director Shane Black and more, a video blog review for Star Trek Into Darkness, the Pacific Rim trailer from WonderCon, Fox’s courting of Michael B. Jordan the the role of Human Torch in its upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, and the new trailer for Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx‘s White House Down. A brief recap and link to each is a “Continue Reading” click away.

There’s no such thing as too much Marvel news, right?  With Iron Man 3 hitting theaters this weekend, a bevy of details regarding Marvel’s upcoming films have been making their way online.  While it’s exciting to look ahead to Marvel’s Phase Two slate post-Iron Man 3, all roads lead to one of the most anticipated sequels in recent memory: The Avengers 2.

Steve recently spoke with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, and during their extended conversation Feige talked quite a bit about how Iron Man 3 gives audiences an idea of what to expect from The Avengers 2.  He also talked about writer/director Joss Whedon’s script for the follow-up (which he describes as hilarious, awesome, and moving) and whether or not the film will have a subtitle.  Hit the jump to read on.

After setting records all around the world with its international roll-out last week, Iron Man 3 has finally arrived in US theatres. The Disney/Marvel sequel took in a reported $68.1 million from its 4,253 locations on Friday, including $15.6 million earned from its Thursday night/midnight screenings. That blows away the $51.2 million debut of Iron Man 2 on this weekend in 2010, though, as expected, it is well short of the $80.8 million earned by 2012’s The Avengers. Overall, Iron Man 3 now claims the second-highest May debut of all time and the eighth best single-day opening overall.

The current projection for IM3’s opening weekend is $169 million – though that number has shifted continuously for the past 24 hours. A couple of million in either direction would not be enough to put the film past The Avengers’ record of $207.4 million, of course – though anything over $169.1 million would replace Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 as the second-highest debut weekend of all time at the domestic box office.  Check back tomorrow for the complete Iron Man 3 breakdown.