14 DAY TRIAL // Whenever a movie studio launches a new tentpole franchise, it makes sure it has all the players (meaning, recurrent actors) signed for at least 2 more movies after the original one. Depending on how big a movie star is, they can negotiate their salary to their heart’s content, but if the actors are relative newcomers, at best, they can hope for a clause that allows for renegotiation after the first film, depending on how successful it is.
According to Terrence Howard, when Marvel approached him to appear as Robert Downey Jr.’s sidekick in “Iron Man,” there was no doubt as to whether the film would be a hit or not: everybody involved knew that it would be.
With all that, he still got pushed out of the franchise, and his latest interview with Rolling Stone makes it clear that he’s still angry about it.
Terrence Howard didn’t stand a chance
The story Howard has been telling for years is that he was the first one hired on the first “Iron Man” and he actually suggested to Marvel that they audition Robert Downey Jr. for the part that would end up making him one of Hollywood’s hottest commodities and highest paid actors.
He says he even agreed to a pay cut just so that Marvel gave him a chance to read for the part, because, at that point, they weren’t interested in him because they thought his past drug problems were making him a liability to the franchise.
After the first movie, Howard says, RDJ asked for a raise and he asked for such money that Marvel decided to cut his own salary to be able to give it to him. He was also deemed disposable as a cast member, since it was clear that the real star of the show was RDJ and his Tony Stark.
Howard resisted and tried to get RDJ to stand up for him, since he owed him that much: after all, he wouldn’t be there if Howard hadn’t put in a word for him. But RDJ shut Howard out, took the money and stood by as Marvel replaced Howard with Don Cheadle, who is now a franchise regular.
Marvel and RDJ never commented on these claims, and there’s also another rumor that says Howard overplayed his hand in renegotiations for the sequel and made the mistake of asking for too much money, on the assumption that he was a big star who could not be replaced.
As Howard tells Rolling Stone now, Marvel and RDJ’s cost him exactly $100 million (€88.4 million), so no wonder he’s still fuming about the whole thing.
RDJ was a jerk
Howard doesn’t describe his former co-star with this exact word, but that’s the message he’s trying to convey: he came through for RDJ because he thought he could use the break that came with “Iron Man,” and when the time came for him to return the favor, he went under and wouldn’t answer calls.
“He got the whole franchise, so I've actually given him $100 million, which ends up being a $100 million loss for me from me trying to look after somebody, but, you know, to this day I would do the same thing. It's just my nature,” Howard says. “When all that stuff went down about me, you’re not in any bargaining position. You’re shunned. You’re persona non grata.”