Marvel to dump Jon Favreau from IRON MAN 2?
Astonishingly, the rumor which now looks to be completely 100% true is that despite Jon Favreau almost single handily taking a B list Marvel superhero into the upper echelons of the Spider-Man and X-Men blockbusters and in the process making over $530 million worldwide at the box office alone, the studio are reluctant to pay the director his big salary for a sequel. Can you believe that? Astonishing. The blame has squarely been branded on the head of David Maisel, the head chairman of Marvel Studio's who many are calling "too cheap" to pay Favreau a fair sum. I mean after all, if Favreau has an awful lot to do with the franchise being in the strong position it's in right now.
The story comes originally from IESB but has since been backed up by AICN. This looks to be a serious problem and the lockdown in negotiations is undoubtedly why Marvel have not contacted the director in a few weeks and why Favreau recently stated that the 2010 release date was unrealistic. The understanding is that Maisel doesn't wanna pay Paramount the huge salaries that the likes of Brett Ratner and Michael Bay have gotten in the past and he believes that now the franchise is set on it's feat, he could bring anyone to that director's chair and the result would be the same... an uber popular movie that makes them a fortune. Right as he may be, there are also more factors at stake. If a new director comes in and the movie bombs... that's costly not just for future Iron Man films but for future cross-over movies and the universe you are finally starting to put together. Secondly... would Favreau's good friends Robert Downey Jr. or Terrence Howard be so comfortable carrying on the series without him? Lose them, you lost your franchise. Can you imagine if Warner Bros. handed asked Christopher Nolan to come back and direct The Dark Knight? Can you imagine if Sam Raimi had been dumped on Spider-Man after the first film? I can be a pretty stubborn guy but Maisel right now needs to leave that behind and take a real long look at himself in the mirror. Pay up, Favreau deserves so much more than just a salary, he should have a golden ticket at Marvel for what he has done with Iron Man. Don't screw things up already when everything was looking so rosy with your future plans!