SPOILERS for the film begin at 19:41.

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You can email your comments and film suggestions to movienight(at)geekshow.us

Shane Black will be reuniting with his Kiss Kiss Bang Bang star as he takes over the Iron Man franchise from previous director Jon Favreau. Favreau left the Marvel Studios franchise to focus on new projects (namely Disney’s Magic Kingdom which he is set to direct).

Whether Black, best known as a screenwriter, will write a draft of the screenplay to Iron Man 3 is still being worked out at this point, but it should be a given that he will have something to do with the final draft.

John and I discussed this possibility on GeekiN #144 last week, and we both expressed how this may very well be the best thing to ever happen to Iron Man. It could even lead to the best entry in the franchise.

What do you guys think?

Due Date will star Downey as a father-to-be who has to go on a cross-country road trip with Galifanakis’s charecter in order to get to the hospital in time for his child’s birth. Filming is to begin in the Fall. Todd Phillips of Hangover and Old School fame will be directing.

Rourke is set to play a heavily tatooed Russian named Ivan, who would most likely become Crimson Dynamo, a villian who battles Iron Man in a nuclear powered suit of armor. While Rockwell is in negotiations to play Justin Hammer, a multibillionaire and business rival of Tony Stark. One role yet to be filled is that of Tony’s new assistant Natasha.

(THR)

“I was very happy with the reviews and the box office–right up until Dark Knight got better reviews and made even more money,” Favreau joked. “But one aspect I would like to take from Dark Knight, budget permitting, is the use of IMAX.”

He also added that 3-D is a definite possibility.

“I would love to do 3-D,” Favreau said, adding that he saw the use of IMAX and 3-D as ways to give people a reason to go to theaters.

Iron Man 2 has a release date less than two years away, but the film is only in the early stages of scripting.

“The writing on Iron Man 2 is really coming along well,” Favreau said. “We’ve got Justin Theroux [Tropic Thunder] working on it, who Robert Downey Jr. knows. He brings a real sense of fun. He’s never worked in this genre before, and so he has that great newcomer’s enthusiasm that I think we still share.”

When asked about the villain of the film, Favreau admitted that he is still struggling with how to properly translate the Mandarin into the film’s world. Though hinting at a possible appearance in the sequel, he indicated that it’s unlikely he will be the primary focus.

“We’ll see how that basic group of four people moves forward towards the inevitable Avengers that’s coming and how the Mandarin, how largely he looms in the next one. That’s mostly what we’re doing,” Favreau said.

“I’m going to bring you up to speed in the movie and tell a fun story,” Favreau added. “I want to up the ante in smart ways. … You’re going to see that the suit has changed more. … That Tony Stark is making breakthroughs and innovation. You’ll see what has happened since he said, ‘I am Iron Man.’”

When War Machine, the character that Terrence Howard’s James “Rhodey” Rhodes is destined to become, was mention, Favreau seemed enthusiastic.

“I want to do it,” Favreau said. “We’re drawing War Machine. We’re figuring it out. We’re talking to Terrence to see if he can take some time out of his new life as a musician to be War Machine. I think Terrence and the character of Rhodey were smaller in the first movie than we had anticipated. But it does set the table very well for this character.”

Iron Man 2 hits theaters everywhere April 30, 2010.