14 DAY TRIAL // After making “Iron Man” into the $1.2 billion global franchise it is today with just two films, director Jon Favreau is out of the picture, announcing on his Twitter page that he wouldn’t return for the third film, scheduled to come out in May 2013.
News broke in New York Mag’s The Vulture section: for reasons yet unknown, Favreau had announced Marvel and parent company Disney that he would not do a third “Iron Man” flick, and Marvel was already looking for a replacement.
As word of this got out, the director himself took to Twitter to confirm the sad news (for “Iron Man” fans who simply can’t imagine the pic without him at the helm). He doesn’t say what prompted the departure, though.
“It’s true, I’m directing Magic Kingdom, not Iron Man 3. I’ve had a great run with Marvel and wish them the best,” Favreau tweets.
As noted above, this is about everything he’ll say about the departure, which literally gives green light to speculation on what may have led to this decision.
Apparently, money was a factor: first of all, it’s possible that Favreau was getting too expensive for Marvel, and they wanted him out of the picture to maximize profit, The Vulture says.
“Favreau, after all, is said to have received $10 million for the Iron Man sequel; it’s unclear what he’d be seeking for a third film, but reps familiar with these sorts of gross participation deals tell Vulture that he likely would command $12 million to $15 million up front, plus a 15 percent of the gross after the film recouped,” the e-zine writes.
If one also factors in Robert Downey Jr.’s huge salary and his percentage of the overall gross, it turns out that Marvel is not making as much money as they’d want. Since they couldn’t go on without their lead, they probably thought Favreau was disposable, it is being said.
Secondly, creative differences may have also played a part, with the director not agreeing with the studio’s decision of taking “Iron Man” into a different direction, by bringing more superheroes on board.
“One informed source hears that he was frustrated with Marvel’s urge to stuff more of their in-house heroes into the next film in the wake of The Avengers,” says The Vulture.
“In theory,” Favreau himself was saying earlier this year, “Iron Man 3 is going to be a sequel or continuation of Thor, Hulk, Captain America and Avengers. This whole world… I have no idea what it is. I don’t think they do either, from conversations I’ve had with those guys.”
Be that as it may, one thing is clear: “Iron Man 3” is happening without Jon Favreau. As of now, the film doesn’t have a script or a director – but there’s still plenty of time to get both, and Marvel is hard at work with it.