The Iron Man 2 gang is getting back together for what will hopefully be a better movie than Iron Man 2.  Variety is reporting that Scarlett Johansson will reunite with Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau for Favreau’s indie film, Chef.  The story centers on a man (Favreau) who loses his chef job and starts up a food truck to reclaim his artistic promise and reclaiming his estranged family.  As we previously reported, the film will have a strong supporting cast with Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, and Bobby Cannavale on board to co-star.  I’m happy to see Favreau returning to his indie roots (although in this case “indie” simply means it doesn’t have the gigantic budgets of his recent films), and heading back into a leading role.  He’s so money and he knows it.

But the movie is in for a fight over the title as Sony Pictures, which owns John Wells‘ Chef starring Bradley Cooper, has sent a cease and desist letter to coax Fairview Entertainment and Favreau to find another title.  Hit the jump for more including possible co-stars for Wells’ Chef.

Not to be confused with the John Wells-directed drama of the same name starring Bradley Cooper, Jon Favreau’s Chef will instead be an indie comedy both directed by and starring Favreau himself.  Joining him will be the world-renowned billionaire-playboy-philanthropist Tony Stark Robert Downey Jr.  The story centers on “a man (Favreau) who loses his chef job and starts up a food truck to reclaim his artistic promise and reclaiming his estranged family.”  Also starring are Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale.  Hit the jump for casting news for Nicole Kidman and Stephen Lang.

After making a name for himself in the indie world, Jon Favreau made an even bigger name as a blockbuster director with Iron Man and Iron Man 2.  But after his last movie, Cowboys & Aliens, debuted to tepid reviews, Favreau took a break from helming giant productions.  (It helps that Warner Bros. put Jersey Boys into turnaround and Magic Kingdom is developing slowly at Disney.)  To cleanse the palate, he directed the pilot for Revolution and a late-season episode of The Office while taking on supporting roles in the likes of John Carter, Identity Thief, and (hey) Iron Man 3.

According to Variety, Favreau is eying a independent production for his next feature.  Favreau is in talks with financiers to write, direct, and star in Chef.  Details are scarce, but Favreau would play an emotional chef who runs a Los Angeles restaurant in the indie comedy.  It would be nice to see Favreau return to his roots, and I bet he attracts a great supporting cast, so I am eager to see how Chef develops.

Although Iron Man 3 has already had its world premiere, we here in the States have to wait a little over a week before we get to see it.  In the meantime, a new TV spot and 10 new images feature not only the principal cast of Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, but new looks at the supporting cast.  We get new looks at James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, Guy Pearce and Ty Simpkins, plus a TV spot takes us inside the surprisingly rustic cabin retreat of Tony Stark.

Also starring Don Cheadle and Ben Kingsley,  Iron Man 3 opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on May 3rd.  Hit the jump to watch the TV spot and check out the new images.

Marvel has released a new featurette for director Shane Black’s sequel Iron Man 3, and this one focuses on the film’s large cast of characters.  In addition to a fair amount of new footage, we get to see nearly the entire cast (including Jon Favreau) discuss their characters and how the film stacks up against the first two Iron Man pics.  Naturally everyone has great things to say about the film, but Ben Kingsley appears genuinely enthused about tackling The Mandarin and Robert Downey Jr. claims that it’s the most emotionally satisfying and entertaining Iron Man film yet.

Hit the jump to watch the new featurette and click here if you missed the first clip from the pic.  The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, and Rebecca Hall.  Iron Man 3 opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on May 3rd.

It appears that Clint Eastwood has caught the musical bug.  Though the filmmaker has been trying to get his remake of A Star Is Born off the ground for the past couple of years, he’s run into quite a few stumbling blocks along the way.  First production was pushed back when star Beyonce became pregnant, then the multi-talented artist dropped out of the project altogether.  Esperanza Spalding is the latest choice for the female lead, but Eastwood keeps striking out when it comes to filling the male role.  Tom Cruise was courted to star last year, and the project has already seen Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn pass on the gig.

Now it appears that Eastwood has set his sights on another musical film to direct as his next project instead of A Star Is Born, opting to push that long-in-development project back in lieu of the prospect of taking over for Jon Favreau on the Broadway adaptation Jersey Boys.  Hit the jump for more.

As the NBC comedy The Office winds down its final season, some big name talent is coming onboard to helm one of the last episodes.  TV Line reports that Jon Favreau will helm an episode of the series later this season, though scheduling is still being worked out so it’s unknown exactly which installment he’ll direct.  Throughout the show’s past nine seasons a number of famous directors have stepped in to helm episodes (Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, Harold Ramis, Marc Webb, Seth Gordon, Jason Reitman, Paul Feig, Bryan Cranston), so Favreau’s involvement isn’t entirely out of the ordinary.  The Iron Man director has previous experience in the TV world, as he directed the final episode of Judd Apatow’s series Undeclared and the pilot for NBC’s Revolution.

TV Line also has news concerning the now-defunct Dwight spinoff The Farm.  The episode that was to serve as a backdoor pilot for the new series will still air as a part of the current final ninth season, but showrunner Greg Daniels revealed that they won’t be airing “exactly what it was.”  Additional material will be shot in order to make the episode fit into this current season more.

This morning, we have some new comments from stars Robert Downey Jr. and James Badge Dale about Iron Man 3.  Dale, who was last seen in Flight, plays the villain Eric Savin a.k.a. “Coldblood.”  Speaking to Glow [via Just Jared], Dale talked a bit about the tone for the upcoming superhero sequel.  “[Iron Man 3] is really a dark comedy with a little bit of farce,” said Dale. “The trick is to be able to have the audience relate to you. Director Shane Black gave me a long leash.”  We’ve definitely seen the darkness from the recent trailer, but looking at Black’s previous films, I’m sure the comedy will be present as well.

Hit the jump for what Downey had to say about reuniting with Black and more.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3, 2013.

And the director speculation for Star Wars: Episode VII marches on.  If you thought actor Jason Fleymng’s recent bean-spilling statement regarding Matthew Vaughn as the director of the new Star Wars film would put an end to the rumors and murmurs, think again.  We’ve seen a number of names pop up as being in contention for the task of helming the upcoming untitled Return of the Jedi sequel, and it seems like we’ve seen just as many filmmakers come out and publicly turn the job down.  One such name that has previously spoken publicly about the new trilogy is Jon Favreau, and it appears that he and David Fincher are the latest filmmakers to be added to the growing “contender” list.  Hit the jump for more. 

With a director yet to be announced, speculation has run rampant.  Two possible contenders for the job, J.J. Abrams, Jon Favreau, Guillermo Del Toro, and Colin Tervorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) have chimed in on whether or not they would want to get behind the camera for Star Wars: Episode VII.  Hit the jump for what each director had to say as well as a recap of recent Star Wars news.  Star Wars:  Episode VII is due out in 2015.

Warner Bros. is second-guessing its musical adaptation of Jersey Boys.  The Jon Favreau-helmed project had been on track at the studio for a January production start date and Christmas 2013 release, but Variety now reports that WB has put the project into turnaround.  The film is based on the smash hit musical and tells the story of The Four Seasons, chronicling the group’s rise in the 1960s with such hits as “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like a Man.” It’s a whole lot of fun, and having seen the show I’d liken it to a musical version of a lighter Goodfellas.

Hit the jump for more, including why Warner Bros. dropped the project and who Favreau is eyeing for the leads.

China is already a huge market for American-made films, but looks to increase its purchasing power by expanding the number of American-Chinese co-productions in the coming year.  Chief among them is the Marvel movie Iron Man 3, which is currently filming.  However, a snafu occurred recently when questions were raised as to what exactly comprised a “co-production.”  The two sides hashed it out at a joint film summit held at UCLA on Monday and things look prosperous for the future.

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Sir Ben Kingsley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall and Jon Favreau, Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 is slated to open May 3rd, 2013.  Hit the jump for more on the American-Chinese co-production of Iron Man 3.

The first trailer for Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 dropped earlier today, and it’s pretty great.  The big take away is that this looks to be a surprisingly dark entry into the series, especially for the wise-cracking Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).  But there are also some cool details in the trailer you may have missed.   What’s with the tattoo on the back of the Mandarin’s neck?  What happened to poor Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau)?  Who is Iron Patriot beating up on?  There are also plenty of cool images that prove Black, even though he only directed one movie before this one (albeit an excellent one), knows how to shoot action.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, and Ben Kingsley.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3, 2013.

The first trailer for director Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 has been released and it’s looking a lot darker for Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) this time around. Following the events of The Avengers, Stark is a bit more shaken up than one would have expected.  His nightmares plague him with sleepless nights and constant fear that harm will befall the people he cares about.  And it’s looking like his greatest technological achievement will become his biggest threat.  At least until the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) makes his appearance in grand fashion (though I’m not 100% sold on his accent).

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars also stars Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Ashley Hamilton, Jon Favreau and James Badge Dale.  Iron Man 3 opens on May 3rd, 2013.

We were recently treated to an official synopsis for Marvel’s upcoming sequel Thor: The Dark World that shed a light on the story of the godly follow-up, and now the studio has released a full synopsis for Iron Man 3.  Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige previously noted that the third entry in the Iron Man franchise would metaphorically get Tony Stark “back to the cave,” in a place where he’s stripped of everything and left with only his intelligence to fight his way back.  This synopsis teases just that, as Stark finds himself on a sort of revenge mission after his “personal world is destroyed” by his enemy (Ben Kingsley’s The Mandarin).  The synopsis also promises an answer to a question that’s central to Stark’s character: does the suit make the man or does the man make the suit?

Hit the jump to read the full synopsis.  Directed by Shane Black, the film also stars Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, and Guy Pearce.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd, 2013.